Millions of GMO mosquitos could soon be released in Florida

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/01/millions-of-gmo-mosquitos-could-soon-be-released-in-florida/



A British biotech firm is planning a unique experiment designed to help combat a pair of painful viral diseases, but residents of the Florida Keys are not exactly welcoming their efforts.

Millions of GMO mosquitos could soon be released in Florida
RedOrbit
26 Jan 2015 at 22:03 ET

A British biotech firm is planning a unique experiment designed to help combat a pair of painful viral diseases, but residents of the Florida Keys are not exactly welcoming their efforts.

In fact, according to UPI reports, more than 140,000 people living in that state have signed a petition attempting to prevent the organization, Oxitec, from moving forward with their research – which just happens to involve the release of millions of genetically modified mosquitoes.

The media organization explains that the bloodsucking insects have been altered to produce offspring incapable of surviving to adulthood. Once released into the wild, they will seek out female mosquitoes, mate with them, and ultimately help reduce the insect's population – helping to combat the potentially-lethal dengue fever and chikungunya fever in the process.

In theory, it may sound like an effective way to combat two painful and life-threatening viruses, but those living in the communities where the experiment is scheduled to take place are balking at the thought of being bitten by insects that have been genetically modified in a laboratory.

[Demeter]

1. Male mosquitoes don't bite

The females need blood to develop their eggs and are the biters.

I'd worry more about what part of the ecosystem will starve to death because their food supply (mosquitoes) disappears...and if those predators eat the immature GMO hybrid mosquitoes, will they be adversely affected?

[Nitram]

2. Bats would probably suffer the most.

[drm604]

3. They're only targeting the species that carry dengue and chikungunya.

Other mosquito species won't be affected and would likely multiply to fill the niches left by the exterminated species, so bats should still have plenty of food.

[drm604]

4. Presumably they've chosen genes that won't produce anything lethal to predators.

In the unlikely event it did turn out to be detrimental to predators, once the targeted mosquito species are extinct or drastically reduced, the program would be ended or drastically cut back, and the predator species would recover (and subsist on other mosquito species).

All this needs to be weighed against the suffering and harm that would be caused by dengue and chikungunya.