As If 2020 Wasn’t Bad Enough, 750 Million Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes Have Been Approved For Release In Florida
If there was ever something important that I learned from watching movies, it was to NOT mess with genetics! Just don’t do that! I mean, has anyone seen Jurassic Park?!
Reading that 750 million genetically engineered mosquitoes are about to be cut loose in Florida is a bit disturbing, especially in 2020!
The plan has received final approval from local authorities in the Florida Keys. This plan is to release over 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes there in 2021 and 2022.
Local residents and environmental advocacy groups are not happy and I’m with them! This is some scary sci-fi stuff! Just read this statement from Jaydee Hanson below!
With all the urgent crises facing our nation and the State of Florida — the Covid-19 pandemic, racial injustice, climate change — the administration has used tax dollars and government resources for a Jurassic Park experiment. Now the Monroe County Mosquito Control District has given the final permission needed. What could possibly go wrong? We don’t know, because EPA unlawfully refused to seriously analyze environmental risks, now without further review of the risks, the experiment can proceed.
Jaydee Hanson, policy director for the International Center for Technology Assessment and Center for Food Safety, in a statement released Wednesday.
Apparently they are trying to release this mosquito in Harris County, Texas as well. That is way too close to home for me!
Local health officials confirm that there is no agreement in place or plans to move forward with the project at this time. Our focus is on our efforts with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sam Bissett (communication specialist with Harris County Public Health) told CNN
The goal behind all of this? They want to see if the GMO mosquito will be a good alternative to spraying insecticides to control the Aedes aegypti.
The Aedes aegypti is a mosquito that carries diseases like Zika, yellow fever, dengue, and chikungunya.
Is This How We Get Zombies?
They say that this new mosquito called the OX5034 is male and is programmed to kill only female mosquitoes. So um, yea… programmed mosquitos. Anyone else a bit creeped out? Is this how we get zombies? I feel like this is how we get zombies.
How will this affect other wildlife? Like birds, and other insects that feed on mosquitoes? Let me know how you feel about this in the comments. I would rather take my chances with the illness than a genetically modified bug running loose.
