The release of a billion GMO killer mosquitoes has begun

Tens of thousands of male mosquitoes descend on the Florida Keys. But these are not ordinary mosquitoes: they are genetically modified, and they were planted in the state on purpose. It’s part of a plan to fight the disease by releasing 1 billion mosquitoes in two states, but it’s making some people heeby jeebies.

Workers on Thursday placed boxes of mosquito eggs – two on Cudjoe Key, one on Ramrod Key and three on Vaca Key – and expect them to hatch in about a week. They go repeat the process over the next few months, releasing 12,000 bugs per week for 12 weeks. That’s 144,000 mosquitoes in total – gross.

The project marks the first time that GMO mosquitoes have been released in the United States, was initiated by the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) with the private British biotech company Oxitec. It is an attempt to curb the spread of dengue, Zika and yellow fever.

“As we see resistance develop to some of our current control methods, we need new tools to fight this mosquito,” Andrea Leal, executive director of the Florida Keys Mosquito District, said in a statement. declaration.

The idea is that GMO mosquitoes will reduce populations of Aedes aegypti, a type of mosquito species common in the Florida Keys that spreads these insect-borne diseases. In the Keys, this variety constitutes only 4% of the total mosquito population. But they caused 70 cases of dengue fever in Key Largo last year, and the risk of other diseases spreading is a major concern.

Only females of the Aedes aegypti species bite people to get blood to ripen their eggs. So scientists created GMO mosquitoes, which they call the OX5034 species, to produce female offspring that dies as larvae. Oxitec, the company behind the GMO mosquitoes, and the FKMCD hope the insects will mate with the females Aedes aegypti those. Since the female offspring cannot survive long enough to reproduce, this will reduce the population of mosquitoes that spread the disease. They hope, anyway.

This is only the first step of the project. Oxitec has got an experimental use permit from the Environmental Protection Agency, to release 1 billion of these genetically modified mosquitoes on 6,600 acres in Florida and Texas over the next two years.

Oxitec claims that this method is “safe” and “environmentally friendly”. He benefits from a successful experience with field trials the Cayman Islands, Panama, Malaysia and Brazil. This too Remarks that the project was approved by the EPA and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and is also supported by the Center for Disease Control and a board of independent advisers.

But the residents of Keys aren’t so sure releasing the GMO mosquitoes was a good idea. And they have reason to be concerned. Locals said Vice that they weren’t told exactly where the bugs would be dropped until Friday before they started posting. This is, at a minimum, crude and rude behavior.

A Yale University 2019 study also warned that the plan could backfire. These scientists found that while most female offspring of GM insects die, between 3% and 4% of them typically survive to adulthood, and that’s not clear if they are sterile. This means that by mating with mosquitoes that spread the disease, Oxitec mosquitoes could create hybrid babies that could in fact be more resistant to insecticides than wild mosquitoes and worsen the spread of the disease.

There is also worries on how mosquitoes in the lab will interact with ecosystems in the Florida Keys. A Brazilian mosquito field study found that modified insect genes spread in wild mosquito populations. It is not known what ecological effects could be having in the Florida Keys, which is concerning as the region is home to such rich and sensitive habitats. Last month a sign independent experts testified before the Florida Keys Mosquito Board, raising these issues. Supporters are calling on the EPA to end the project, even as some bugs are about to find their way into the wild.

“The release of genetically modified mosquitoes puts Floridians, the environment and endangered species at risk in the midst of a pandemic,” said Dana Perls, food and technology program manager for the environmental organization Friends of the Earth. declaration. “This press release aims to maximize the benefits of Oxitec, not the urgent need to control mosquito-borne diseases.”