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Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – Local authorities have approved a plan to release more than 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes in America’s Florida Keys archipelago between 2021 and 2022, with the objection of many local residents and the coalition of environmental groups.
“After giving the required final clearance, what could go wrong? We don’t know, because the Environmental Protection Agency illegally refused a serious environmental risk analysis?”, A Jayde Hanson, policy director of the International Center for Technology Assessment and the Center for Food Security, said in a statement on Wednesday. Now, without further consideration of the risks, the experiment can continue. “
After being approved by the Environmental Protection Agency in May, the pilot project was designed to test whether the transgenic mosquito was a viable alternative to spraying pesticides to control Aedes aegypti. It is a mosquito that carries many deadly diseases, such as Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.
The mosquitoes, called “OX5034”, were engineered to produce offspring that would die in the larval stage, long before hatching and becoming large enough to bite and spread disease. The female mosquito bites only for the blood she needs to ripen her eggs. Males feed only on nectar and are therefore not carriers of disease.
The mosquitoes also received federal approval to be released in Harris County, Texas, starting in 2021, according to Oxitec, the US and UK body that developed the genetically modified organism.
The Environmental Protection Agency has approved the “Oxitec” app after years of investigating the impact of GM mosquitoes on human health and the environment.
A long battle in Florida
And in June, Florida issued a pilot use permit after seven government agencies unanimously approved the project. But it took over a decade to get that approval.
In 2009 and 2010, a local dengue epidemic, which is spread by Aedes aegypti, prompted the Florida Keys to fight mosquitoes. However, local control efforts to contain Aedes aegypti with larvicides and pesticides have been largely ineffective.
The process was also expensive, and although Aedes aegypti only makes up 1% of the mosquito population, more than a million dollars a year is allocated to its fight.
In 2012, the county called Oxitec for help. The company has developed a male mosquito named “OX513A”, which is programmed to die before adulthood unless it is grown in water containing the antibiotic tetracycline.
The sterilized batches of “OX513A” will be able to live and mate with females.
As rumors spread through the Florida Keys that the mosquito was on its way, the public reaction was swift: more than 242,000 people signed the “Change.org” petition against the proposal.
The Environmental Protection Agency has spent years investigating the impact of mosquitoes on human health and the environment. However, in the middle of the evaluation, Oxitec developed a second generation ‘Friendly Mosquito’ technology and retired the first application.
The new male mosquito, OX5034, is programmed to kill only female mosquitoes, with males surviving for several generations and passing the modified genes on to males.
The EPA permit requires Oxitec to notify officials 72 hours before mosquito release and to perform continuous testing for at least 10 weeks to make sure female mosquitoes do not reach adulthood.
However, environmental groups fear that the spread of genetically engineered male genes in nature could harm species of birds, insects and mammals that feed on mosquitoes.
“The release of genetically engineered mosquitoes will needlessly expose Florida residents, the environment, and endangered species amid the pandemic,” said Dana Perls, director of the food and technology program at “Friends of the Earth, ”in a statement.
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