In early May of 202, for the first time ever in the U.S., The WinePress reported that 1 billion GMO mosquitoes were released into the Florida Keys, to help kill off other mosquitoes that might carry nasty viruses.
Now Florida, along with California, is set to release even more of them out into the world.
On Monday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the use of genetically engineered mosquitoes to reduce the population of normal mosquitoes that have the potential to spread a variety of diseases
Just like before, these videos come courtesy of the British biotechnology company Oxitec, a firm that is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Oxitec’s safe, sustainable and targeted biological pest control technology does not harm beneficial insects like bees and butterflies and is proven to control the disease transmitting Aedes aegypti mosquito, which has invaded communities in Florida, California and other U.S. states. In California, since first being detected in 2013, this mosquito has rapidly spread to more than 20 counties throughout the state, increasing the risk of transmission of dengue, chikungunya, Zika, yellow fever and other diseases.
The company said in a press release on the 8th.
The company says that their GMO mosquitoes are male and do not bite, which will be released into the wild to mate with the females, which do bite. Oxitech’s mosquitoes will then pass on a gene that is fatal to the females, designed to cull their offspring before they can fully mature.
One set of mosquitoes will be released in Tulare County, California, in cooperation with the Delta Mosquito and Vector Control District; and another rerelease with the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District.
Our team is immensely proud to have received yet another milestone approval from the EPA. This expansion of our U.S. efforts reflects the strong partnerships we’ve developed with a large and diverse range of stakeholders at the local, state and national levels. We’re especially thankful to our collaborators and to the communities who have so warmly welcomed us in both Florida and California.
Given the growing health threat this mosquito poses across the U.S., we’re working to make this technology available and accessible. These pilot programs, wherein we can demonstrate the technology’s effectiveness in different climate settings, will play an important role in doing so. We look forward to getting to work this year.
Grey Frandsen, CEO of Oxitec
Just like a year ago, this move has some concerned.
This is a destructive move that is dangerous for public health.
Once you release these mosquitoes into the environment, you cannot recall them. This could, in fact, create problems that we don’t have already.
Dana Perls, food and technology program manager at Friends of the Earth, an environmental advocacy organization, told USA Today
There are no locally acquired cases of dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya or Zika in California. Releasing billions of GE mosquitoes makes it likely that female GE mosquitoes will get out and create hybrid mosquitoes that are more virulent and aggressive.
Other public health strategies, including the use of Wolbachia infected mosquitoes, could better control the Aedes aegypti in California and Florida.
Jaydee Hanson, policy director with the Center for Food Safety said
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
And I guess we’re supposed to believe that these mosquitoes won’t bite people, right? Annie Price, CHHC, wrote in 2017 per Dr. Axe’s website that these abominations need to be banned. Moreover, these GMO mosquitoes have been to referred to as “flying syringes” that could carry vaccines and inject them into people; hence, why people like me or even more cautious about these mosquitoes.
So, where is Demigod DeSantis to stop this? He did not do it the first time, and now, so far, he is not doing anything this time. -Speaks for itself if you ask me.
[2] I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. [3] Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. [5] Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; [6] Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. Psalms 91:2-3, 5-6
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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I suspect these weaponized mosquitoes are resistant to insecticide sprays, & they are killing bees so as to reduce pollination & thus food supply.
Good point.