Use of genetically modified mosquitoes considered in Houston

[donnay]

Lookout Houstonians!

Use of genetically modified mosquitoes considered in Houston


By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HOUSTON — Mar 20, 2017, 4:36 PM ET

Officials are considering releasing genetically modified mosquitoes in Houston as part of the fight against the insects known to carry diseases such as the Zika virus.

The Houston Chronicle ( http://bit.ly/2mLrfyy ) reports that Harris County, Texas, officials are negotiating with a British biotech company, Oxitec, to release mosquitoes that have been genetically engineered to produce offspring that die.

Oxitec has yet to try out its technology in the U.S. A proposed trial in a Florida Keys suburb never got off the ground last year amid residents' concerns about genetic engineering.

There have been no documented cases of Zika being locally transmitted in the Houston region. The only homegrown Zika cases in Texas have been in Cameron County, on the border with Mexico.

Mustapha Debboun, director of the Harris County Mosquito Control Division, said working with Oxitec could provide another tool in the fight against Zika and other mosquito-borne illnesses. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which carry the Zika virus, dengue fever and chikungunya, among other deadly illnesses, are common in the Houston region.

Deric Nimmo, principal scientist at Oxitec, called "the release of mosquitoes to control mosquitoes" an important change in the approach.

Oxitec has conducted field trials in Brazil, Panama and the Cayman Islands and says it has reduced the Aedes mosquito populations by up to 90 percent in each location.

In August, the Food and Drug Administration gave approval to a proposed field trial in Key Haven, a Florida Keys suburb, finding that it would have no significant impacts on human health, animal health or the environment. Residents in Monroe County, Florida, voted in a nonbinding resolution in favor of working with Oxitec. But Key Haven residents voted nearly 2-to-1 in November against the trial.

According to the FDA, if Oxitec wanted to conduct a field trial in Texas' Harris County, the company would have to submit an environmental assessment to the agency.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireSto...uston-46261732

[Zippyjuan]

genetically engineered to produce offspring that die.

So their genes are not passed on if their offspring die.

[Jamesiv1]

Frankensquiters.

[TheTexan]

Oh no, what if they screw it up? Mosquitos could become extinct!

That would be horrible! I dont know what I would do, if mosquitos weren't part of my life

[Zippyjuan]

Life without mosquitoes: http://www.nature.com/news/2010/1007...l/466432a.html

There are 3,500 named species of mosquito, of which only a couple of hundred bite or bother humans. They live on almost every continent and habitat, and serve important functions in numerous ecosystems. "Mosquitoes have been on Earth for more than 100 million years," says Murphy, "and they have co-evolved with so many species along the way." Wiping out a species of mosquito could leave a predator without prey, or a plant without a pollinator. And exploring a world without mosquitoes is more than an exercise in imagination: intense efforts are under way to develop methods that might rid the world of the most pernicious, disease-carrying species

[Suzanimal]

What could possibly go wrong?

[Zippyjuan]

What could possibly go wrong?

Given that there isn't a next generation- probably not much.

[TheTexan]

Life without mosquitoes: http://www.nature.com/news/2010/1007...l/466432a.html

"Wiping out a species of mosquito could leave a predator without prey, or a plant without a pollinator."

You know what preys on mosquitos? Spiders.

Ya I'm OK with that.

[Suzanimal]

You know what preys on mosquitos? Spiders.

Ya I'm OK with that.

If they don't have mosquitoes to eat what will they be tempted to nibble on?

[donnay]

You know what preys on mosquitos? Spiders.

Ya I'm OK with that.

Bats. Will we see a major bat die-off because of it?

[TheTexan]

Bats. Will we see a major bat die-off because of it?

Also OK with that.

[TheTexan]

If they don't have mosquitoes to eat what will they be tempted to nibble on?

With any luck, , each other.

[Occam's Banana]

What could possibly go wrong?

Given that there isn't a next generation- probably not much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiVVzxoPTtg

[shakey1]

The problem is that they march ahead with things such as this with little or no foresight into possible consequences.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...osquitoes.aspx

[Suzanimal]

Also OK with that.

Not me. I love bats. I have a bunch of them around my house and in the summer, I like to turn on the highest light to draw bugs and watch the bats eat 'em. If I'm real still and quiet, they'll even come down around the pool. Good times.