I’m nearly at a loss for words as I try and get this out. Really. It’s just, painful.

Yesterday, GeneWatch explained that one of the major concerns about Oxitec’s GM Aedes aegypti mosquito is that if natural populations of A. aegypti are reduced, a competing mosquito species might rise up to take their place. In the Florida Keys, the biggest threat is Aedes albopictus, another invasive species that takes human blood meals. It’s also more difficult to control with pesticides than A aegypti which may make communities continuously dependent on Oxitec to produce new streams of GM animals. (Can you say vertical integration?)

An absolute GEM from the article:

“Oxitec’s application to the Cayman court makes it clear that the company intended all along to design and release Asian Tiger mosquitoes as well as aegypti. It refers to both species throughout, stating from the outset that the company intends to sell a second “animal drug” to fix the ongoing problems created by the first.

And yet, do you remember them mentioning any of this to us? I know I don’t! 

This game is profitable for Oxitec but dangerous and shouldn’t be allowed. GMO mosquitos do not have a track record of safety and should be considered an unstable wild card. In fact, they are already showing evidence of the multiple safety risks many were concerned about from the beginning:

  • biting females will be released
  • they contain artificial DNA which includes E. Coli AND Herpes Simplex virus
  • they aren’t sterile

And again, they planned this ALL ALONG WITHOUT TAKING US INTO ACCOUNT.

Thankfully, Never Again reports that a promising new option is being tested: Wolbachia, “…a natural bacterium which infects only insects. Mosquitoes which have Wolbachia don’t transmit human diseases like Zika and dengue, and their offspring die before the eggs hatch, which also reduces populations. Unlike the constant applications required by GMO mosquitoes, Wolbachia infection spreads among insects on its own, allowing for smaller touch-up applications and reduced pesticide use in the future.”

THAT we can stand behind.

Source: Never Again