Posted on 12/06/2012 6:52:36 PM PST by null and void
Hundreds of thousands of genetically modified mosquitoes are awaiting federal approval for release into the Florida Keys as part of an experiment aimed at reducing the risk of dengue fever.
Officials are targeting the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes because they can spread dengue fever, a disease health officials thought had been eradicated in the U.S. until 93 cases originated in the Keys in 2009 and 2010.
The trial planned by mosquito control officials and the British company Oxitec would release non-biting male mosquitoes that have been genetically modified to pass along a birth defect that kill their progeny before reaching maturity.
The district's website says the modified genes will disappear from the environment after the mosquitoes carrying it die, resulting in no permanent change to the wild mosquito population. The district also says that the mosquito species isn't native to the Keys, nor is it an integral food source for other animals.
A University of Florida professor who studies mosquito control said Oxitec's technology works and evidence from the company's experiments elsewhere show it can control mosquito populations, but it's not clear whether its methods are as effective at controlling the risk of disease transmission.
The mosquito control district wouldn't need any local permit for the trial, either, but officials held a public meeting earlier this year and have posted information on the agency's website.
Still, it could take years for the FDA to approve the trial.
Oxitec said the USDA's environmental assessment is one of several examples of proof that the trial's risks and methods are being independently evaluated. The company has trials in Brazil, the Cayman Islands and Malaysia, and it says it's gotten positive reviews from the latter two governments. It also cites its published research in peer-reviewed journals.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
What could possibly go wrong?
Yes, but there are PLENTY of native mosquito species in Florida.
Messing with the genes of animals that live off our blood and pass our blood around... What could possibly go wrong??
If a pond has fish in it, there will not be many mosquitoes produced in that pond. As you say, the fish will eat the wigglers or larvae.
They really are prodcued by mud puddles or any standing water which has no fish in it. I forget the details but they can live and I think reproduce in high grass.
They are the only polinators for some small flowers. I think I could live without the flowers.
Crossbow works way better and doesn’t harm non woody stemmed plants.
Bats and birds like swallows would die off as well.
EVERYTHING you do has consequences, some you foresee and many that don't come to light until there is a major backlash. Even Ralph Nader has come around to admit the major mistake of his life was to work for the banning of DDT. Millions of people, mainly children have died of malaria since the ban went into effect. DDT was and still is the most effective way to control malaria carrying mosquitoes.
It's not nice to fool with mother nature...she has a way of turning around and biting you in the butt.
Regards,
GtG
PS I would not miss ticks however!
Carson’s new book, “Silent Camping.”
Dengue? Here I was worrying about West Nile virus!
hundreds of thousands.....I have that meny in my back yard and I live in Indiana....and its 30 degrees!!
Heck - they imported kudzu to control erosion and nothing went wrong with that experiment.....wait I think I hear some vines brushing my window - last I looked they were 50’ from the house... wonder how they got so close...
Great, now Florida will look like something out of Jumanji.
Sure, mosquitoes are bad in the Keys, but the no-see-ums are far worse.
yea, look at how that worked
This is a call for ‘Mansquito’ !
queu Dennis Miller
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