Hundreds of millions of mosquitoes will soon be released in Florida. On purpose. The mosquitoes are released as a form of pest control, but they could wreak havoc on local ecosystems. And honestly, just the thought of it makes my ankles itch.
This week, the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District approved a plan to release 750 million of these fuckers in 2021 and 2022. But these are no ordinary mosquitoes; they are genetically engineered to reduce the numbers of other species of mosquitoes.
See, the region has a big problem with that Aedes aegypti, a species of mice bearing yellow fever, Zika, dengue, chikungunya, and other deadly diseases. They are the reason for the present outbreak of dengue fever in the upper keys, which has almost infected 50 people.
These asshole mosquitoes make up only roughly 1% of the Florida Keys mosquito population, but they are such a problem that Florida Keys Mosquito Control typically budgets more than $ 1 million a year to keep them under control. Most of the money goes to expensive air sprayers to eradicate the bugs.
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The new experiment, scientists say, could serve as a cheaper alternative. Scientists modified these upcoming lab mosquitoes, which they call species OX5034, to produce female offspring that die as larvae. See, only female mosquitoes actually bite humans for blood because they need it to fill their eggs. Men simply drink nectar so that they do not transmit diseases to humans. This female offspring of these new mosquitoes will die before hatching and become large enough to bite humans.
Some researchers are pretty sure that this new, creepy scheme will work – so much so that there is another plan to release these genetically modified boys in a Texas province next year as well. according to Oxitec, the company behind these plans. Oxitec boasts about its successful track record, saying the approach is proven work in field tests in the Cayman Islands, Panama, Malaysia, and Brazil in the past three years. But environmentalists are raising major concerns about these plans.
No one is down with mosquitoes and no one is down with dengue. But some scientists warn that this experiment could backfire. In a study published in Nature last year, a group of researchers warned that this project could create hybrid wild mosquitoes through mating, which may in fact be more resistant to insecticides than wild mosquitoes and thus increase the spread of disease. This is because most female offspring of genetically modified insects die, between 3% and 4% of them generally survive to adulthood, and it is not clear if they are infertile.
Then, there are worries about the ecological consequences of releasing lab-adapted insects. One recent field study on Brazil, showed, for example, that the genetically modified mosquitoes’ engineered genes were spread in wild populations of mosquitoes. As that armor in the Florida Keys, it is not clear what impact this could have on insect feeding chains and functioning ecosystems. This is difficult, especially since the Keys are home to a rich variety of plant life, as well as terrestrial and marine wildlife. Sensitive ecosystems are already at risk due to threats such as overfishing and development, and relocating to another part of the unique region could have unintended consequences. It is especially difficult to predict these outcomes, as officials have not yet said exactly where the Franken mosquitoes will be released.
The plan to release the insects in Florida now has both state and Environmental Protection Agency permits, but environmental groups such as the Center for Security and the Florida Keys Environmental Coalition are pushing for approval to be withdrawn. This is what happened earlier: An earlier planned release in the Florida Keys of a prototype version of the Oxitec mosquito was launched in 2018 because a referendum showed local residents against the plan.
“The Mosquito Control Board has a commitment to our community,” said Barry Wray, executive director of the Florida Keys Environmental Coalition, in a statement. “Not a supplier whose products are risky and unreliable.”
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