750 million GM mosquitoes coming soon to a Florida near you

[DavidBrown]

A company is preparing to release 750 million genetically modified male mosquitoes in the Florida Keys. The Aedes aegypti mosquitoes have a protein that will supposedly kill the offspring in the female mosquitoes they mate with, thus decreasing the numbers of the disease-carrying skeeters.

Will this ecological engineering work? Stay tuned.


Florida to release wave of modified mosquitoes

 

[Dactyloa]

Interesting, how do you feel about this approach as opposed to methods involving Wolbachia?
How it works | World Mosquito Program

 

[birdsandbats]

I am very worried that a significant reduction in mosquito populations could have ripple effects elsewhere in the ecosystem. I am very much against this project.

 

[Coelacanth18]

I am very worried that a significant reduction in mosquito populations could have ripple effects elsewhere in the ecosystem. I am very much against this project.

Many biologists and entomologists have actually advocated going much further than this project, up to and including the deliberate eradication of the Aedes and Anopheles taxa - including E.O. Wilson, who is himself an entomologist by trade. They argue that the effects on other species would most likely be minimal and temporary, and that it would be extremely beneficial for public health.

In any case, what other alternatives are there? Aedes aegypti have been spreading across the States and increasing their population in recent years. If the populations are not managed somehow, we will begin to see a rise in infectious tropical diseases like malaria, dengue fever, and Zika.

Edit: In the article, there is also this quote: "But the company involved says there will be no adverse risk to humans or the environment, and points to a slate of government-backed studies."

 

[Dactyloa]

An important thing to keep in mind regarding this specific project is that Aedes aegypti is not a natural inhabitant of the Florida Keys. I also tend to agree that eradicating mosquitos of the Anopheles and Aedes genera is worth pursuing based on the likely minimal effect on the ecosystems they inhabit plus the huge benefit to public health.

 

[birdsandbats]

An important thing to keep in mind regarding this specific project is that Aedes aegypti is not a natural inhabitant of the Florida Keys. I also tend to agree that eradicating mosquitos of the Anopheles and Aedes genera is worth pursuing based on the likely minimal effect on the ecosystems they inhabit plus the huge benefit to public health.

Really? If that's the case I am all for eradicating it.

 

[Dactyloa]

Yes, this article (Population genomics reveals that an anthropophilic population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in West Africa recently gave rise to American and Asian populations of this major disease vector) from 2017 found the human vector Aedes aegypti to have originated in West Africa before spreading to Asia and the Americas, likely by hitchhiking on ships traveling along trade routes.

 

[Jungle Man]

I would love to have mosquitoes eradicated. Probably in USA there are less mosquitoes and less diseases, but here in Panama, every year hundreds of people die due to Dengue Fever and other diseases transmitted by mosquitoes.