Up to 750 million genetically engineered mosquito will be let loose on the Florida Keys in a tender to quash mosquito - borne diseases like Dengue fever and the Zika virus .
The pilot project could come into effect as too soon as 2021 after beinggiven the go - aheadby the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District ( FKMCD ) in August , as well as receiving approval from theEnvironmental Protection Agency ( EPA)and theUS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC)earlier this class .
The plan is to release millions of maleAedes aegyptimosquitoes ( which do n’t bite ) that have been genetically - tweaked to express a protein call tTa . Once the introduce male mate with raving mad female mosquitoes , the protein will be go on and in effect kill their distaff offspring , thereby reducing the population of the mosquitos in the area .
TheAedes aegyptimosquito is not aboriginal to Florida , but it ’s become a prominent vector for several human disease , most notablyDengue febricity , a nasty viral disease that ’s infected at least 47 citizenry in the upper Florida Keys in 2020 so far . Zika computer virus , which infected over 200 people in Florida through mosquito - borne transmission system in 2016 , is also primarily send by the bite of an infectedAedes aegyptimosquito .
It ’s the first time such a project has been approved in the US . However , the plan has grow a fair amount of controversy , with some critics calling it a “ Jurassic Park experiment . ”
" With all the urgent crises facing our res publica and the State of Florida – the Covid-19 pandemic , racial shabbiness , climate variety – the administration has used taxation dollars and government resources for a Jurassic Park experiment , ” Jaydee Hanson , policy theatre director for the International Center for Technology Assessment and the non - profit group Center for Food Safety , said in astatement .
“ What could perhaps go wrong ? We do n’t know , because EPA unlawfully refuse to earnestly analyze environmental risk , now without further review of the risks , the experimentation can carry on , " they added .
With that say , there is currently short evidence to show the genetically - engineered mosquitoes will cause any problem for the ecosystem or human world .
Oxitec , the international biotech firm behind the project , articulate their project is back up by an “ thorough regulatory assessment ” that included more than 70 proficient documents and 25 scientific studies , all of which found the technology “ stupefy no risk to mankind , animals or the environment , including imperil species . ”
The controversy is unlikely to end here , but assistant of the project asseverate that the science is sound and the novel project could be one of the few options left to contain the mosquito - borne disease in the area .
“ The skill is there . This is something Monroe County needs , ” Jill Cranny - Gage , a supporter of the task , said at the Mosquito Control District ’s coming together , according toAssociated Press . “We’re strain everything in our power , and we ’re running out of options . ”
