For The First Time, Genetically Engineered Mosquitos Are Released Into The Wild
Author: Lizzie Schiffman
Date Written: 12/11/2010
A group of researchers based in Oxford has thought of a way to attempt ending the spreading of the Dingus Fever. They did this by genetically modifying male mosquitoes. They would simply sterilize them and then set them free into the wild. Not only would those mosquitoes be harmless like other male mosquitoes, but they would also prevent the dangerous females from reproducing. This would be an easy but questionably affective way to lower the population of the mosquitoes and therefore even more importantly the chances of them infecting humans. Some scientists say that this is not a good choice as the lowering of the mosquitoes’ population could cause serious and temporary effects on the environment, especially the species that depend on those mosquitoes. This method is usually considered better than using chemicals to kill off the mosquitoes. This is not only because these sterilized males have absolutely no proven effect on the environment but also because some mosquitoes could have developed immunity against pesticides that are usually being used against them but not even the strongest individual can reproduce with a sterile female.
I found this article interesting because as far as I know this is a new way of solving things. However this could be called animal abuse if used on larger creatures. It is a good strategy though as the mosquitoes lethally infect 2,000,000 people every year.
