Florida to release a billion genetically modified mosquitoes and people are worried
Florida to release a billion genetically modified mosquitoes and people are worried
Tags: Aedes, Dengue, Genetic biocontrol, Genetically modified mosquitoes, North America, Oxitec, Sterile insect technique (SIT)B. Robinson, indy100, 2021.
It sounds like the pitch for a horror movie, but Florida’s about to release up to a billion genetically modified mosquitoes in the Keys. What could go wrong? Florida residents and environmentalists are already voicing their concerns after state officials and Oxitec, a biotechnology a UK-based biotechnology company, announced plans to release the critters over a two year period in Monroe County, in the Florida Keys section of the state. But why? In a press release from Friends of the Earth, they state that the project attempts to reduce the number of Aedes aegypti, one of the many species of mosquitoes that carry infectious diseases such as Yellow Fever and Zika.
