Millions of GMO insects could be released in Florida Keys
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Bully_Pulpit
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msn.com/en-us/news/us/millions-of-gmo-insects-could-be-released-in-florida-keys/ar-AA8zeQpKEY WEST, Fla. — Millions of genetically modified mosquitoes could be released in the Florida Keys if British researchers win approval to use the bugs against two extremely painful viral diseases.
Never before have insects with modified DNA come so close to being set loose in a residential U.S. neighborhood.
"This is essentially using a mosquito as a drug to cure disease," said Michael Doyle, executive director of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, which is waiting to hear if the Food and Drug Administration will allow the experiment.
Dengue and chikungunya are growing threats in the U.S., but some people are more frightened at the thought of being bitten by a genetically modified organism. More than 130,000 people signed a Change.org petition against the experiment.
Even potential boosters say those responsible must do more to show that benefits outweigh the risks of breeding modified insects that could bite people.
"I think the science is fine, they definitely can ? mosquitoes, but the GMO issue still sticks as something of a thorny issue for the general public," said Phil Lounibos, who studies mosquito control at the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory.
Mosquito controllers say they're running out of options. With climate change and globalization spreading tropical diseases farther from the equator, storm winds, cargo ships and humans carry these viruses to places like Key West, the southernmost U.S. city.
There are no vaccines or cures for dengue, known as "break-bone fever," or chikungunya, so painful it causes contortions. U.S. cases remain rare.
Insecticides are sprayed year-round in the Keys' charming and crowded neighborhoods. But Aedes aegypti, whose biting females spread these diseases, have evolved to resist four of the six insecticides used to ? them.
Enter Oxitec, a British biotech firm that patented a method of breeding Aedes aegypti with fragments of genes from the herpes simplex virus and E. coli bacteria as well as coral and cabbage. This synthetic DNA is commonly used in laboratory science and is thought to pose no significant risks to other animals, but it kills mosquito larvae.
Oxitec's lab workers manually remove modified females, aiming to release only males, which don't bite for blood like females do. The modified males then mate with wild females whose offspring die, reducing the population.
Oxitec has built a breeding lab in Marathon and hopes to release its mosquitoes in a Key West neighborhood this spring.
FDA spokeswoman Theresa Eisenman said no field tests will be allowed until the agency has "thoroughly reviewed all the necessary information."
Company spokeswoman Chris Creese said the test will be similar in size to Oxitec's 2012 experiment in the Cayman Islands, where 3.3 million modified mosquitoes were released over six months, suppressing 96 percent of the targeted bugs. Oxitec says a later test in Brazil also was successful, and both countries now want larger-scale projects.
But critics accused Oxitec of failing to obtain informed consent in the Caymans, saying residents weren't told they could be bitten by a few stray females overlooked in the lab.
Instead, Oxitec said only non-biting males would be released, and that even if humans were somehow bitten, no genetically modified DNA would enter their bloodstream.
Neither claim is entirely true, outside observers say.
"I'm on their side, in that consequences are highly unlikely. But to say that there's no genetically modified DNA that might get into a human, that's kind of a gray matter," said Lounibos.
Creese says Oxitec has now released 70 million of its mosquitoes in several countries and received no reports of human impacts caused by bites or from the synthetic DNA, despite regulatory oversight that encourages people to report any problems. "We are confident of the safety of our mosquito, as there's no mechanism for any adverse effect on human health. The proteins are non-toxic and non-allergenic," she said.
Oxitec should still do more to show that the synthetic DNA causes no harm when transferred into humans by its mosquitoes, said Guy Reeves, a molecular geneticist at Germany's Max Planck Institute.
Key West resident Marilyn Smith wasn't persuaded after Oxitec's presentation at a public meeting. She says neither disease has had a major outbreak yet in Florida, so "why are we being used as the experiment, the guinea pigs, just to see what happens?"
Word.....yall cool with some ? like this??
Comments
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The FDA ain't worth ? .
If you have the money the FDA will approve anything no matter what it might do to people right now or in the future. -
white people always ? with nature..nature gonna ? around and ? with you back
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At least let the people of Florida vote on some ? like that, these ppl JDGAF
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Theres so many mosquitos as it is. Trucks ride up n down my neighborhood spraying chemicals to ? them.
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Good for those insects.
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I'd have to read the actual science behind it in more detail, but this could be pretty interesting. And I get that this is playing ? , kinda. ? with things that maybe shouldn't be ? with. But since when we care about that? This GMO ? is ridiculous. Almost EVERYTHING you eat - no matter how 'natural' is a GMO. This isn't really that far off.
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Bruh.....
I'm at work so I couldn't read the whole article. Did it mention in what way they are modified?
And could this change translate into unforeseen mutations occurring when exposed to the various possible pathogens that mosquitos can come in contact with? -
mryounggun wrote: »I'd have to read the actual science behind it in more detail, but this could be pretty interesting. And I get that this is playing ? , kinda. ? with things that maybe shouldn't be ? with. But since when we care about that? This GMO ? is ridiculous. Almost EVERYTHING you eat - no matter how 'natural' is a GMO. This isn't really that far off.
Yeah bruh but still shouldnt the populace have a vote on it? ? the aspect of playing ? for a minute and weight the pros and cons of this ? . This can have catastrophic implications if its not done correctly. This is why we have vaccinations, nobody asked for this ? . -
Judge_Judah wrote: »Bruh.....
I'm at work so I couldn't read the whole article. Did it mention in what way they are modified?
And could this change translate into unforeseen mutations occurring when exposed to the various possible pathogens that mosquitos can come in contact with?
At this point who cares, they will say whatever you want to hear, all they have to do is put some guy in a scientist jacket. If these scientists who worked on this live in the UK, why not release that ? over there. dont go ? with our ecosystem. -
Lol no one cares about Florida
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Bully_Pulpit wrote: »mryounggun wrote: »I'd have to read the actual science behind it in more detail, but this could be pretty interesting. And I get that this is playing ? , kinda. ? with things that maybe shouldn't be ? with. But since when we care about that? This GMO ? is ridiculous. Almost EVERYTHING you eat - no matter how 'natural' is a GMO. This isn't really that far off.
Yeah bruh but still shouldnt the populace have a vote on it? ? the aspect of playing ? for a minute and weight the pros and cons of this ? . This can have catastrophic implications if its not done correctly. This is why we have vaccinations, nobody asked for this ? .
Cool. I'll agree with that; informed consent should be required. But that's not what I'm seeing people object to, ya know? -
Imma start checking my bookshelf for astronauts and any other miniature ? trying to warn me and drop knowledge. Before its too late.
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No thanks
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Millions of them were released in Brazil a few years ago, they are probably already here in some southern states.
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How the fucc will this cure the diseases
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Dengue and chikungunya are growing threats in the U.S
The ? outta here. They could of said cancer or aids, to make this B.S. more believable. They named a bunch of , african soccer players instead....diseases nobody ain't never heard of, cause ppl rarely have.
But i bet those conspiracy theorist r making sense now, aint they???. -
for all we know this will probably trigger a zombie apocalypse.
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How the fucc will this cure the diseases
That's just some ? they say to justify what they wanna do......
They stay ? with ? then the diseases grow resistant and all.....
Other than that nature has it own way of balancing it's self out to preserve the ecosystems. Introducing all this unnatural ? into the nature ain't gonna work in the long run. Unforeseen mutations could occur.
