NEXT: GENETICALLY MODIFIED MOSQUITOES

The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District  is seeking federal and state approval to release hundreds of thousands of genetically-modified (GM) mosquitoes designed to kill off the natural Aedes aegypti variety of the fly throughout Key West, Florida. If approved, the release of GM mosquitoes in Key West will represent the first ever release of a GM creature in the U.S., and on a trial basis where scientists really have no idea what will happen. Like all other GMOs, it is unknown whether or not the GM mosquitoes will have a detrimental effect on the environment or humans, or how killing of large amounts of mosquitoes will disrupt the life cycles of natural ecosystems. Created by U.K.-based insect eradication company Oxitec, the GM mosquitoes have been created with an added gene that, unless they are given the antibiotic tetracycline, will automatically kill them. When they mate with wild mosquitoes, these GM mosquitoes also pass on this gene to the offspring. Malaysia has released 6,000 genetically modified mosquitoes into a forest in the first experiment of its kind in Asia. The field test is meant to pave the way for the official use of genetically engineered Aedes aegypti male mosquitoes to mate with females and produce offspring with shorter lives, thus curtailing the population.The plan has sparked criticism by environmentalists, who fear it might have unforeseen consequences, such as the inadvertent creation of uncontrollable mutated mosquitoes.
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE