In many areas of the world, mosquitoes are a real scourge. These hinder the life of the inhabitants but above all, are vectors of diseases. In Florida, tens of thousands of genetically modified mosquitoes will be released. The goal ? Generate a new generation of mosquitoes unable to survive.
To fight against mosquitoes, one of the solutions used for a few years is the release of genetically modified mosquitoes . In 2018 in Burkina Faso, the government authorized such a release in the west of the country in an attempt to eradicate malaria in the region. In 2014 in Brazil, the authorities had already released millions of genetically modified mosquitoes to fight against the spread of dengue fever.
As explained in an article published by the NBC News channel on April 28, 2021, Florida (United States) is about to release no less than 144 000 male mosquitoes genetically modified. The objective? Controlling Aedes aegypti mosquitoes , these being vectors of diseases such as dengue, and yellow fever or even heartworm in pets.
These mosquitoes that Florida will release into the wild come from the British company Oxitec . The latter had already developed the insects for the 2014 Brazilian operation. According to this company, the mosquitoes in question do not bite and were simply created to mate with biting females. This is to ensure that their offspring do not survive. For supporters of this method, it is a means of radical control of the mosquito population.
Recall in the Keys archipelago – at the southern end of Florida -, the species Aedes aegypti represents only 4% of the population of mosquitoes. However, this same species is responsible for the overwhelming majority of diseases transmitted to humans. Andrea Leal is executive director of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, the organization controlling mosquitoes in the Keys. The person concerned mentioned a resistance of mosquitoes to some of the current control methods. Thus, here there is a need to use new methods.
Remember that this type of method is often disputed, but the results still seem to be there. In 2016, a huge 3,500 m² factory was built in Guangzhou (China) to package and then release nearly 20 million mosquitoes into the wild. changed every week. Before the appearance of this installation, the researchers had carried out tests. By releasing 500,000 mosquitoes, they were able to halve the population of these insects in the treated area.
