Genetically Modified Mosquitoes To Be Released In Texas Next Year

We’ve all heard of genetically modified foods, but mosquitoes? Next year, millions of mosquitoes whose genes have been altered to prevent transmission of illnesses like dengue fever and Zika virus will be released in Houston and the Florida Keys. Here’s what you need to know:

Genetically modified mosquitoes have been approved for release in Houston and the Florida Keys by the EPA. The striped-legged Aedes aegypti mosquito will be used.

Wikimedia Commons/Muhammad Mahdi Karim

The experiment is an effort to combat mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever and the Zika virus. Neither are extremely common here in America, but both can have devastating effects.

Wikimedia Commons - CDC/ Cynthia Goldsmith

Only male mosquitoes will be genetically altered. This is because females are the ones who transmit disease, while males feed on pollen and therefore don’t need to bite humans. The males will mate with the females, and any female offspring will be unable to survive – and therefore, unable to transmit disease.

Flickr/Jordan Schwartz

Oxitec, the company performing the experiment, said similar projects have performed well in Brazil and the Cayman Islands. Over a billion mosquitoes have been released over a period of years, and, according to Oxitec, no risk to the environment or humans exists.

Flickr/Fevi in Pictures

Despite the purported safety, environmentalists and non-GMO activists have expressed concern about the mosquitoes. They worry about the planet maintaining homeostasis, in addition to the possibility of harming threatened and endangered species of birds, insects, and mammals that feed on the insects after introducing altered genes into their populations.

Flickr/Mathias Appel

Although the experiment has been approved, mosquitoes won’t be released in Houston until 2021.

Flickr/Katie Haugland Bowen

Oxitec must notify state officials at least 72 hours before the big release. Tests must be conducted for 10 weeks to make sure females never reach adulthood.

Flickr/Oregon State University

How do you feel about this experiment? Let us know your thoughts, and check out our previous article for another bug you might see around the Lone Star State: Record Numbers Of Kissing Bugs Have Been Spotted Throughout Texas And Here’s What You Need To Know.