The mosquito is a harmful species, capable of transmitting diseases such as malaria, dengue and chikungunya. We generally use insecticides to reduce its nuisance. However, there are more environmentally friendly ways like releasing GMO mosquitoes into the wild.
Modified mosquitoes are harmless
The American company Oxitec has received authorization from the Environmental Protection Agency to release two billion mosquitoes GMOs in California and Florida. These are male mosquitoes of the species Aedes aegypti dubbed OX5034 by scientists. Unlike the females, the latter are harmless, as they do not bite humans.
These mosquitoes will be released into the wild to breed with females in the environment. Once their mission is complete, the larvae resulting from their mating will not be viable. These will die before reaching maturity, because they will not have the necessary proteins for this.
This method is not only effective, but also environmentally friendly. By using the insecticides, the chemicals harm the environment and affect other insects like bees. Furthermore, the release of GMO mosquitoes into the wild does not wipe out all mosquitoes. Thus, the birds and bats can continue to feed.
Several organizations are once morest the release of these mosquitoes into the wild
Last year, Oxitec already released 750 million GMO mosquitoes into the wild. This has drastically reduced mosquito populations in the Keys. Although the firm ensures that these releases have no impact on humans and the environment, they are still the subject of concern from certain organizations.
For the organization Friends of the Earth, it is ” of an initiative that is destructive and dangerous to public health “. For his part, Jaydee Hanson, the director of the Center for Food Safety, indicates that this practice is not only dangerous, but also useless, since there are no cases of dengue fever, yellow fever, chikungunya or Zika in California.
