When we think of genetically modified organisms, we usually think of corn or soybeans, and we’ve all heard or read of the concerns — even horror stories — surrounding those so-called GMOs.
For instance, with 94 percent of the soybeans and 72 percent of the corn grown commercially in the United States now genetically engineered to be “Roundup Ready” — or able to withstand herbicide — some animal studies are showing changes in internal cell structure, abnormal tumor growth and unexpected deaths with exposures to the herbicide or treated products. Further, some weeds meant to be killed are developing resistance, requiring more herbicide use.
But we don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, so research into genetic modification as a way to make our lives better continues. Now that research has spread to the mosquito, which is being genetically engineered to control mosquito-borne illnesses, according to a recent article in Yale Environment 360, a publication of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.
The genetically modified aedes aegypti mosquitoes — close relatives of what we call Asian tiger mosquitoes here — would produce offspring that are genetically programmed to die. A United Kingdom-based company, Oxitec, has altered two genes in the mosquito so that when modified males breed with wild females, the offspring inherit a lethal gene and die in the larval stage.
The state agency that controls mosquitoes in the Florida Keys is awaiting approval from the federal government of a trial release of Oxitec’s genetically modified mosquitoes to prevent a recurrence of a dengue fever outbreak like one that occurred there in 2009 and 2010 when 28 people were infected — the first such outbreak in Florida in 75 years. No cases have been reported since 2010, according to the Yale article. Still, local officials spend $1 million of their $10 million annual budget specifically trying to control this one species of mosquito, which accounts for 1 percent of the total mosquito population among 46 species that live in the Keys. This non-native species also can carry chikungunya and yellow fever.