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Aedes aegypti, a mosquito found in Florida Keys, is responsible for the spread of yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus
In this photo, taken on January 25, 2016, the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which transmits Zika, Chikungunya, Dengue and yellow fever viruses, was photographed on human skin in a laboratory of the International Training Center for Training and Medical Research (CIDEIM) in Cali , Colombia. Photo by LUIS ROBAYO / AFP via Getty Images
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The release of genetically modified mosquitoes in the United States, designed to fight disease, has gone according to plan, says biotechnology company Oxitec.
The first phase of the pilot study consisted of the release of almost 5 million modified ones Aedes aegypti male mosquitoes in Florida Keys, a group of islands off the south end of Florida, in April 2021.
The results show that the method may eventually be able to eradicate or reduce the number of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
Aedes aegypti make up only 4 percent of the Keys mosquito population, but are responsible for the spread of yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya and the Zika virus, Oxitec said during an online seminar revealing its findings on April 6.
“The mosquito is very difficult to control. He likes to live around people, at home, under the house, “said Andrea Leal, executive director of the Mosquito Control District in Florida Keys. “We are also seeing an increase in resistance to a number of our anti-aging products that we use to control mosquitoes, so we are eventually looking for new tools to put in our toolbox to help us control this particular mosquito.”
Especially since Florida Keys is surrounded by a national marine sanctuary, Leal added, it is important to consider methods that have no impact on the environment.
Oxitec also clarified that modified male mosquitoes do not bite humans.
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Mosquito boxes have been given to select neighborhoods in Florida Keys, from which genetically modified males emerge and then look for wild females to breed.
Modified males carry a gene that kills female offspring. Researchers observed 22,000 larvae taken from the areas where the males were released. None of the female larvae, which were the offspring of the modified males, lived to adulthood. Meanwhile, the male offspring eventually carry the modified gene.
Although some of the results were shared in the online seminar, they have not yet been published.
The pilot made no findings on disease control or wildlife management. Instead, in his early stages, he showed researchers that it was possible for this method to work.
“I like the way they handle it,” Thomas Scott, an entomologist at the University of California, Davis, told Nature. “They do it in a systematic, thoughtful way. So I’m encouraged, but they have a lot of work to do. “
The study was not without criticism.
As another mosquito release approaches in Visalia, California, an activist said the city would become a “laboratory rat” for the company without involvement, SF Gate reported.
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Millions of genetically modified mosquitoes put on a scheme to get rid of diseases such as malaria. It did not work out
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