Why millions of genetically modified mosquitoes may be released in Florida and California

March 10, 2022

About two million genetically altered mosquitoes could soon be released in Florida and California as part of a pilot program to fend off an invasive mosquito that carries diseases like Zika, yellow fever, dengue and chikungunya.

The new program was created by British biotechnology company Oxitec and was granted approval by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) earlier this week, according to the company’s website.

“Given the growing health threat this mosquito poses across the U.S., we’re working to make this technology available and accessible,” said Oxitec CEO Grey Frandsen. “These pilot programs, wherein we can demonstrate the technology’s effectiveness in different climate settings, will play an important role in doing so. We look forward to getting to work this year.”

Oxitec’s mosquitoes are designed to control the invasive mosquito Aedes aegypti, which first appeared in California in 2013 and showed up in Florida in 2020 for the first time in 75 years, according to Smithsonian Magazine.

The species is known for being particularly aggressive when it comes to biting humans and can easily adapt to urban areas, making the likelihood of the insects spreading diseases like Zika and dengue greater than their fellow blood-sucking cousins.

Under the program, Oxitec plans on releasing its altered male mosquitoes, which do not bite, into the states to mate with the females of the invasive species and create offspring that never reach maturity, according to the company’s website.

Oxitec’s website stresses that the altered mosquitoes will not hurt other “beneficial insects,” like bees and butterflies.

Oxitec’s program is an extension of an EPA-approved experimental project to control invasive mosquitoes conducted in the Florida Keys last year. The project did come with its fair share of pushback with critics expressing concern over the potential negative consequences of using genetic engineering to control the bugs.

"When you disrupt an ecological system whether it's a small disruption or a big disruption, you're going to have an impact," Dana Perls, program manager at Friends of the Earth, a Washington, D.C.-based environmental advocacy group, told USA Today.

https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/environment/597776-why-millions-of-genetically-modified-mosquitoes

See Military Experiments on biting insects >>15866367 pb

Operation May Day: Aedes Aegupti mosquitoes were dispersed through ground based methods in Georgia, USA, during a US Army operation codenamed May Day.

Parts of the 1981 US Army report such as the “Mass production of Aedes Aegypti” have not been declassified, potentially meaning that the project is still ongoing.

Aedes Aegypti, also known as yellow fever mosquito, have been widely used in US military operations. The same species of mosquitoes are alleged to be the vectors of dengue, chikungunya and the Zika virus, which causes genetic malformations in newborns.

http://dilyana.bg/the-pentagon-bio-weapons/

>>15866273, >>15866309, >>15866376, >>15866390, >>15866406 pb

>>15879049

Oxitec: Developer of biological solutions to control pests

Oxitec is the leading developer of biological solutions to control pests that transmit disease, destroy crops and harm livestock.

Aedes aegypti in California

Since first being detected in 2013 in California, invasive Aedes aegypti mosquitoes have spread to more than 20 counties throughout the state increasing the risk of transmission of dengue, chikungunya, Zika, yellow fever and other diseases. According to the California Department of Public Health, Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are now detected in the following counties and its range continues to expand:

Butte, Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Merced, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, Shasta, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tulare, Ventura, and Yolo. Invasive Aedes aegypti mosquitoes pose a serious public health threat and the COVID pandemic has reinforced the need for proactive public health interventions before there is a widespread disease outbreak.

Our insects contain a self-limiting gene, and when this gene is passed on to their offspring, offspring do not survive to adulthood, resulting in a reduction in the pest insect population.

We call this method “self-limiting” because the released insects and the self-limiting gene that they pass on are designed to die and disappear from the environment.

We release males, because it is the female insects that are directly responsible for spreading disease or producing larvae that damage crops. Our males have one job: to find wild females where they live and mate with them.

This method can be applied to all kinds of insect pests, from the mosquitoes that transmit such diseases as dengue and Zika, to moth caterpillars that destroy maize fields. We’ve created our insects using precise genetic engineering tools. They are just like wild insects, except we’ve inserted two additional genes. The self-limiting gene prevents offspring of our released male insect from surviving to adulthood, and a fluorescent marker gene produces a protein throughout the body of the insects, which glows when exposed to a specific colour of light. This helps us to track our insects in the wild.

https://www.oxitec.com/en/our-technology

>>15879049, >>15879154

Oxitec Receives US$6.8 Million from Wellcome Trust to Advance Scale-up of Friendly™ Aedes aegypti Technology

Award will fund new scale-up innovations to help make Oxitec’s Friendly™ Aedes aegypti technology accessible to low-income communities worldwide suffering from dengue, Zika, and chikungunya.

Oxitec Ltd, the leading developer of insect-based biological solutions to control pests that transmit disease, destroy crops, and harm livestock, today announced that it has received US $6.8 million in funding from the Wellcome Trust, one of the world’s largest charitable foundations, to fund scale-up programs for Oxitec’s just-add-water Friendly™ Aedes aegypti technology.

Building on the successful performance of the technology in Brazil over the last three years, this award will fund Oxitec’s work on new production scale-up innovations, product features and methodologies that are focused on reducing costs and improving accessibility of the technology for those communities suffering most from Aedes aegypti-transmitted diseases.

In addition, the award will fund a large two-year area-wide pilot project in the São Paulo region in Brazil which will allow Oxitec to pilot these advancements in dengue-prone urban environments.

Grey Frandsen, Oxitec’s CEO, said, “We are immensely grateful for Wellcome’s partnership and support as we work to make our Friendly™ Aedes aegypti solution universally accessible to communities most in need around the world. We are pleased that the Wellcome Trust believes in this vision and shares in our aim to scale this technology as quickly as possible so we can deliver real impact in the global fight against dengue and other vector-borne diseases.”

Fully approved by Brazilian regulators in 2020, Oxitec’s Friendly™ Aedes aegypti technology represents a major advancement in safe, targeted vector control designed to empower governments, businesses, communities and individuals to participate in controlling mosquitoes that transmit diseases.

https://www.oxitec.com/en/news/oxitec-receives-us68-million-from-wellcome-trust-to-advance-scale-up-of-friendly-aedes-aegypti-technology

>>15879049, >>15879154, >>15879348

Oxitec:Aedes aegypti in California

Invasive Aedes aegypti mosquitoes pose a serious public health threat and the COVID pandemic has reinforced the need for proactive public health interventions before there is a widespread disease outbreak.

Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes in California by County/City

Butte, Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Merced, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, Shasta, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tulare, Ventura, and Yolo.

A growing threat

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) mosquitoes kill more people than any other creature in the world.

Aedes aegypti is an invasive mosquito that can transmit viruses that cause Zika, dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever. This species can also transmit heartworm in dogs, cats and other pets. There is no cure or vaccine for many of the diseases transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Climate change has magnified the risks of invasive mosquito species.

Aedes aegypti can now withstand temperate California winters, remaining a threat year after year. This species is spreading and is now in more than 300 cities and towns throughout California. Disease spreading mosquitoes are becoming resistant to commonly used insecticides.

Innovative mosquito control techniques are needed as these mosquitoes have shown resistance to pyrethroids, the most commonly used class of mosquito adulticide. This limits the efficacy of traditional mosquito control approaches.

https://www.oxitec.com/california>>15879154

>>15879049, >>15879154, >>15879348, >>15879494

Excerpt

Battlefield of the Future: Plausible Denial

1995

Battlefield of the Future: 21st Century Warfare Issues

ISBN 1-58566-061-2

"As "first wave" wars were fought for land and "second wave" wars were fought for control over productive capacity, the emerging "third wave" wars will be fought for control of knowledge. And, since "combat form" in any society follows the "wealth-creation form" of that society, wars of the future will be increasingly "information wars .""- George J. Stein

Ambiguity and plausible denial are not new phenomena. But the rapid growth of interconnections manifested already in communications, banking, and other areas creates vulnerabilities and presents opportunities to do grievous harm quickly, with no warning, and with a minimal "signature ." Accordingly, __the analysis of indications and warning that mark the outset of warfare must change. To date, insufficient thought has been applied to this aspect of the character of future war.

pg 81

In his essay on biological warfare as a possible means of attacking an adversary's agricultural base, Dr Kadlec shows how "the existence of natural occurring or endemic agricultural pests or diseases and outbreaks permits an adversary to use BW [Bioweapons] with plausible denial." Dr Kadlec shows instances of how BW could be used in attacks on livestock and plants including anthrax, glanders, rinderpest, and wheat rust.

pg 202

Biological warfare offers an adversary unique and significant advantages because of its ease of production, potential impact of use, and the ability to exploit U.S. vulnerabilities. It is the only weapon of mass destruction which has utility across the spectrum of conflict . Using biological weapons under the cover of an endemic or natural disease occurrence provides an attacker the potential for plausible denial. In this context, biological weapons offers greater possibilities for use than do nuclear weapons.

pg 228

In addition, the problem of biological warfare cannot be narrowly focused on its ability to kill or render people ill. Biological warfare's potential to create significant economic loss and subsequent political instability with plausible denial exceeds any other known weapon. Germ warfare at the end of the twentieth and inception of the twenty-first century directly threatens the security of the United States and the achievement of a peaceful, prosperous, and stable post-cold war era.

pg 248

Naturally occurring genetic events of mutation and selection reasonably explain this occurrence. It is also possible that such insects could be bred for nefarious purposes. In the context of a deliberate act of BW, a nation could select from several native occurring or endemic pests. Selective management and breeding could develop a "super" pest. The selection of this pest could be highly specific for a particular crop that an economic competitor or regional adversary relies on for economic prosperity or national survival. To provide better cover for a clandestine or covert BW attack, pests endemic to the target nation could be similarly obtained and could enhance its resistance through such laboratory manipulation as nonindigenous pesticide exposure. Infiltrating and disseminating perpetrator insects is then dependent on the mode of transportation and the level of plausible denial desired.

pg 256

Thus, naturally occurring events where the agent, the susceptible host, and the environment converge can result in disease, economic loss, and national or international repercussions . No evidence indicates that any nation or group willfully caused the events cited . However, we may not be so lucky in the twenty-first century. It is all too possible to construct a scenario which would offer plausible denial and possible gain to a potential adversary.

pg 260

Similarly, some existing integrated governmental mechanism must be mobilized quickly to contain and mitigate the impact of a BW attack . The Federal Emergency Response Plan contains at least a theoretical structure to begin to address this problem . The real and hypothetical examples cited highlight the opportunity offered by BW as a means to attack the agricultural infrastructure of an adversary. The existence of naturally occurring or endemic agricultural pests or diseases and outbreaks as described permit an adversary to use BW with plausible denial.

pg 264

https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/CSDS/Books/battlefield_future2.pdf