Amid the usual
hail of wilfully misinformed criticism, we are having a major field trial aimed
at the primary dengue mosquito. If it succeeds
in suppressing the problem, then it can be applied globally and will secure the
protocol for other obvious applications as well.
It bothers me
that the press actually gives these deviant opinions any platform, let alone
the platform provided by the proponent.
This is not about free expression, it is about propagating the
propaganda of mindless ignorance and assigning it some sort of standing in the
court of public opinion.
When a scientist
stands up and provides evidence to warrant concern or an activist group at
least pays for such high quality science as can be made available, then it is
time to pay attention. Otherwise it is
merely heaping ignorance on top a well ordered plate of food and expecting to
win respect for sound journalism or activism.
Do these fools ever wonder why no one takes then seriously?
Brazil
Greenlights Plan to Unleash Genetically Modified Mosquitoes
In fight against dengue fever, Brazil seeks
biotech approach
- Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Published on Monday, April 28, 2014 by Common
Dreams
An aedes aegypti mosquito Amid criticism,
Brazil this month gave the OK to its first commercial release of genetically modified
mosquitoes in an effort to combat dengue fever.
The World Health Organization estimates that
dengue, whose main vector is the aedes aegypti mosquito, threatens
over 40% of the world's population, with 2.35 million cases of the infection
reported in 2013 in the Americas alone.
GM aedes aegypti mosquitoes were
developed by British biotechnology company Oxitec, which has had a
years-long project underway in Brazil. The male mosquitoes are engineered so that
when they reproduce with the biting females in the wild their offspring die
before they reach adulthood, theoretically decreasing the population and
thereby curbing the sometimes fatal infection.
Some environmental and civil society groups
issued a statement warning that not enough is known about the human health and
environmental consequences of the GM mosquitoes to warrant their commercial
release.
"There are no data showing that this GM
mosquito actually reduces dengue incidence," stated Gabriel Fernandes,
advisor with the Brazilian ecological organization AS-PTA.
"A desperate desire to prop up British
biotech and reward venture capital investors should not blind the UK and
Brazilian governments to the risks of this technology," added Dr. Helen
Wallace, Director of public interest group GeneWatch UK.
The statement goes on to warn that the
experiment could lead to an increase in the number Asian Tiger mosquitoes,
which also carry dengue, and adds that there aren't published tests showing the
safety for a human getting bit by a female mosquito that has been accidentally
modified or for wildlife swallowing any GM mosquito.
Panama is slated to carry out field trials
of the same GM mosquito this year, while potential plans to release them in the Florida Keys have been denounced as
"dangerously misguided."
Climate change will likely cause tropical
diseases like dengue to spread, which could provide a profit-making opportunity for
companies like Oxitec.
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