Genetically modified mosquitoes have already been released: who will they bite

Forbid mosquitoes to bite and kill all females - so canmake only a special recruit that

Researchers added dangerous insects.

What happened?

Based in the UK, Oxitec is a biotech firm founded at the University of Oxford.Oxitec has created genetically modified mosquitoes to control the population of wild insects that transmitDisease. 

The company has not yet published the data of the experiment,but Oxitec officials said the results were promising. According to Nature, Oxitec has already tested genetically modified mosquitoes in Brazil, Panama, the Cayman Islands and Malaysia, but this was the first time that genetically modified mosquitoes have been tested in the wild. It was held in the United States.

“We had quite a few KPIs and successfully achieved them,” said Nathan Rose, head of regulation at Oxitec.

How did genetically modified mosquitoes originate?

Scientists at Oxitec have genetically modified the mosquito Aedes aegypti, an invasive species that canIn particular, yellow fever, dengue fever and Zika virus. 

Researchers have genetically engineered mosquitoes toso that they do not bite and be males. Scientists injected them with a gene that is fatal to female offspring. As a result, they destroyed about half of all new mosquitoes and helped reduce the population as a whole.

When in 2021 scientists postedgenetically engineered mosquito eggs at various private sites around the Florida Keys, they hoped that artificially created insects would mate with wild ones.

To study the insects, the researchers installed devices to collect adult mosquitoes and eggs.They found that when the genetically modified mosquitoes matured, their behavior and range were almost the same as those of the mosquitoes.wild fellows. 

The modified males actually mated with wild female mosquitoes, which in turn laid eggs.The company then collected these eggs and brought them to the laboratory for observation.Analysis of more than 22,000 eggs showed that only male mosquitoes survived to adulthood.The deadly gene worked as they had planned. 

Modified gene that killed offspringfemales, acted only two or three months - about three generations of mosquitoes. Also mosquitoes carrying the deadly gene were only within 400m of the launch pads.

“Overall, this is what we expected. This is a feature of the self-limiting nature of genes. They won't last long in the environment,” confirmed Nathan Rose, head of regulation at Oxitec.

Why is this needed?

The main ultimate goal of the experiment is to slow down the transmission of diseases that carrymosquitoes, by reducing the overall insect population.The result is likely to be difficult to confirm and study. 

First, in the continental United States, there isfew outbreaks of diseases carried by mosquitoes. Therefore, it is difficult to conduct a thorough field study. In addition, outbreaks can occur even when mosquito numbers are low.

However, the project has faced local protest since it was first announced in 2011. But in the end, federal regulators gave the go-ahead.

Despite this, local pest control organizations supportAccording to the Florida Department of Health, until 2009, no cases of dengue had been reported in the state since 1934. 

But in 2009 and 2010, 88 people in Key Westgot sick. Symptoms include vomiting, rash, nausea and body aches. Then in 2020, 72 people contracted the virus, said Andrea Leal, executive director of the Mosquito Control District.

Lil said the Aedes aegypti species isonly 4% of the local mosquito population, but causes 100% of cases of diseases that are transmitted by mosquitoes. She added that the insects are difficult to control and can become resistant to pesticides.

Now genetically modified mosquitoes will fly everywhere?

The company is currently awaiting approval of itsexperiment from the state of Florida. Oxitec hopes to conduct further trials there to study the impact of genetic modifications on local mosquito populations. 

The company also plans to release genetically modified mosquitoes at a test site in California. 

In March, the EPA gave Oxitec approval to release 2.4 million genetically engineered mosquitoes in two states.

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