Modified Mosquitos Will Used Against Zika Virus in Florida
The fear of the Zika virus has led to the suggestion that mosquito’s that have been genetically modified should be released in Florida. There is not going to be a threat to the environment according to the FDA.
The fear of the Zika virus has led to the suggestion that mosquito’s that have been genetically modified should be released in Florida. There is not going to be a threat to the environment according to the FDA.
British firm Oxitec have modified the mosquito – given the name the Aedes aeqypti and has passed tests set by the FDA to determine impacts on health or the environment. The company has claimed that once their mosquito is released, it will keep down the population of the problem one and as a result, diseases such as yellow fever, Zika and dengue will not be transmitted as easily as they have been in the past.
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The young of the modified one will pass lethal genes to any offspring they have, and they will not have the chance to grow to maturity. There have already been some trials carried out in Panama, Brazil and the Cayman Islands, and the claims are that there has been a 90% reduction in the Aedes aegypti.
Oxitec chief executive, Hadyn Parry said that this mosquito has been a threat to the public and has caused the spread of Zika and dengue. As it is non-native to the States, control has been difficult reaching just 50%, and this is not high enough to have any real impact.
There will have to be further decisions from the FDA as to the release of the mosquitos and consultation will take 30 days.
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Rachel Kowalski
Rachel Kowalski is the Cybersecurity Analyst at TrendinTech, where she covers vulnerabilities, ransomware, supply chain attacks, nation-state operations and the security rules shaping organizations in the United States and Europe. Before moving into journalism she worked as a threat intelligence analyst at a security vendor and later reported for CyberScoop and the security desk at Wired, covering the SolarWinds compromise and the ransomware wave that hit hospitals and pipelines. Rachel holds a Master of Science in Cybersecurity from the Georgia Institute of Technology and attends Black Hat and DEF CON in Las Vegas each year, where she follows research from the security community. She writes to make risks and countermeasures understandable to people who are not specialists.
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