The United States puts genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys to eliminate mosquitoes. What is the public afraid of?

Mosquitoes are really annoying sometimes, they are amazingly adaptable and very reproductive, no matter where you live or what floor you live on, mosquitoes will always find you in summer.

now does have some ways to reduce the mosquito population, but their huge population base plays an important role in the ecosystem, and it is difficult for you to be "ruthless".

However, some of these mosquitoes are going to suffer, the United States has recently started placing genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys.

We know that all blood-sucking mosquitoes are females, and males just eat some nectar and sap. In order not to let the genetically modified mosquitoes affect humans, this time the male mosquitoes are genetically modified, after all, they have almost no intersection with humans.

Simply put, it is to let male mosquitoes carrying "lethal genes" find normal female mosquitoes to mate, and then these "lethal genes" will be passed on to offspring, and this "lethal gene" will prevent the female offspring from building some necessary for survival. protein , while male offspring are not affected. Without these proteins, female offspring die before they mature, while male offspring can still harm other females.

However, this project has been opposed by many, and the opponents have also set up a website so that netizens can sign petitions at any time.

As of the deadline for the delivery of genetically modified mosquitoes, a total of 237,410 people have signed a petition to stop the program.

is also because there are too many people who oppose it. This time the launch is "secret launch", and the public has not been informed of the specific launch location, fearing that the equipment will be damaged.

So the question is, why does the United States have to vote this time? And why are 230,000 people opposed to eliminating mosquitoes, and what are they afraid of? What is the origin of

for to eliminate mosquitoes?

The reason why the United States dares to use genetic technology to deal with mosquitoes this time is partly because the mosquito population they want to eliminate this time is not large, but it is very aggressive.

Legend: The human-eating Aedes aegypti

This mosquito is called Aedes aegypti. It is said that its appearance is quite similar to our flower mosquito . This mosquito is a typical invasion The species , arrived in the United States by the slave trade around 1600. The

invasion was not very successful, accounting for only about 4 percent of all mosquitoes in the Florida Keys. This area is the worst-hit area for mosquitoes in the United States, and the highest proportion of mosquitoes is the salt marsh mosquito.

The salt marsh mosquito bites all mammals, but Aedes aegypti doesn't know where to think, they only like to bite humans.

Not only that, but Aedes aegypti is also the communicator of pathogens such as Zika virus , dengue , Chikungunya and yellow fever .

The dengue fever outbreak in the western Florida Keys between 2009 and 2010 is believed to be the culprit behind the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is what prompted the launch of the genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquito.

(Actually, the motion of this plan was put forward in 2010, but it has been suppressed by the local government and not implemented.)

has a low proportion, high damage, and specializing in human beings, so it is reasonable for them to be governed.

According to the meaning of the biological company that implemented this plan, it is an invasive species, and it only accounts for 4%. Its impact on the ecosystem is very small, so it can be controlled by genetic means.

​And, there have been successful tests in other places, such as Brazil , Cayman Islands, Panama and Malaysia and many other regions have reduced the number of Aedes aegypti by this method by 90%.

The most important thing is that before the Florida Keys needed to invest $1 million a year to control pests such as mosquitoes, the introduction of genetically modified mosquitoes can greatly reduce the cost, and it has a taste of once and for all.

The traditional way to deal with mosquitoes is to kill mosquitoes by spraying insecticides in the air, but now the tolerance of mosquitoes is getting stronger and stronger, so it is indeed necessary to invest in new methods.

has said that, but there are also many negative reports, and the potential risks are indeed very large. In fact, one of the biggest demands of the opponents is that they do not want to be regarded as " guinea pigs ".

​Potential risks of genetically modified mosquitoes

Many places where genetically modified mosquitoes are placed are on islands , because there are some risks that cannot be assessed. If there is a situation out of control, the island can effectively prevent the spread.

There are also some public health risks to the GM mosquitoes, one of which is that when the offspring of females carrying the "lethal gene" are exposed to the tetracycline antibiotic , they can survive and reproduce.

And these surviving females will have altered bacteria that may increase the risk of -resistant infection in humans they bite.

That is, it is possible to have a situation similar to "superbug" infection, and the antibiotic we now know may not be effective against these infections.

​​In addition, tetracycline is still relatively common, it often appears in human feces, and is often used to treat fruit trees. As long as these polluted water bodies, female mosquitoes have a chance to survive until reproduction is complete, Who knows what the next generation of this female mosquito will be like.

has a particularly sobering sentence on its opponent's website, "Almost all experiments with GM crops have ended up with unintended consequences: superweeds are more resistant to the herbicide , mutated, have Resistant insects cause collateral damage to the ecosystem.”

Indeed, our use of “transgenics” is too short-lived, no one knows what the end result will be, it may take a long time to prove, and the current experiment The subject is a mosquito that bites humans exclusively, and it is unimaginable if something goes wrong.

​The last

In fact, this bio company has many questions that have not been answered directly, and even two completely contradictory data in the previous delivery data, so many people in the Florida Keys think themselves as "guinea pigs" .

Beginning in late April, the bio company deployed boxed mosquito egg installations at six sites on three islands, and over the next 12 weeks, about 12,000 newly hatched male mosquitoes would fly out of the boxes in search of females .

If all goes well, another 20 million will be launched later this year, what will happen, whether it will open a new chapter without mosquitoes, or open a Pandora's box, no one can answer now.