Don't underestimate mosquitoes, they appear very early. According to the existing fossil record, the ancestors of mosquitoes at the end of the Cretaceous period have already emerged.
Mosquitoes are pervasive, the population is also very large, every summer, mosquito bites are always annoying, especially when sleeping, there are always mosquitoes in your ear constantly "buzzing" in your ears. What's even more frightening is that mosquito bites not only make you itchy, but even risk spreading diseases, so no one doesn't hate it.
01 Attack poison with poison! After releasing 5 million mosquitoes, the United States is ready to release 2.4 billion
The United States has come up with a way to release many genetically modified male mosquitoes to mate with wild female mosquitoes, so that the internal genes of female mosquitoes can be changed to reduce the number of female mosquitoes, so as to control diseases such as dengue fever or Zika virus.
The program has been endorsed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the mosquitoes will be manufactured by Oxitec, a British biotech company.
Since April 2021, Oxitec has been experimenting with genetically modified mosquitoes in the Heat Islands in southern Florida, and has released 5 million genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Another 2.4 billion genetically modified male mosquitoes are planned to be released in batches to Florida and Texas in 2022.
After the United States, there are many more countries that are implementing this plan, and France is one of them, and they are also studying super mosquitoes. A French company called InnovaFeed is working with Australia's World Research World MosquitoEs Programme (WMP) to develop "Super Mosquitoes".
When news spread about the release of billions of genetically modified mosquitoes in the United States, France, and other countries, it was immediately met with strong opposition from the American people, and more than 100,000 people have signed online petitions against the proposal, and by this year, the number has grown to 300,000.
Many scientists have also come forward to express concern that the experiment on the genetically modified mosquito is not perfect, and there is no guarantee that the released genetically modified mosquitoes will protect humans or destroy nature.
02 The harm is huge! Aedes aegypti mosquitoes carry a variety of deadly diseases that kill about 700,000 people each year
The U.S. Mosquito Program targets primarily a mosquito called Aedes aegypti mosquito. Aedes aegypti is a subfamily of Culex mosquitoes, is a small and medium-sized black mosquito species, this mosquito is actually what we call "flower mosquito", but different regions are slightly different, all belong to the Aedes mosquito group.
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes fly fast, flight sensitivity is also greatly improved, they can also perform sharp turns, sharp brakes and other difficult actions in the process of high-speed flight. What's even more frightening is that they sting people more recklessly, and it's hard for you to shoot it to death.
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes carry a variety of deadly diseases, including Zika virus, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever. Female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes transmit disease through bites, with a huge impact on humans, with dengue cases increasing 8-fold over the past 20 years, from 500,000 in 2000 to 4.2 million in 2019.
According to expert estimates, mosquitoes kill about 700,000 people each year, and in 2015 alone, the abominable mosquitoes claimed the lives of 830,000 people worldwide, not to mention the intellectual disability caused by mosquitoes.
03 Eradicate offspring! Genetically modified mosquitoes are used to "attack poison with poison", and native mosquitoes are eliminated through mating patterns
The fundamental purpose of the release of genetically modified mosquitoes in the United States is actually to use genetically modified mosquitoes to "attack poison with poison" and eliminate native mosquitoes through mating mode.
That is, the modified genetic mosquitoes or super mosquitoes carry a self-limiting gene, which means that when male gene mosquitoes mate with wild female mosquitoes, their offspring will inherit a copy of this gene, and their reproductive female offspring will die naturally before reaching the mature bite age, which is considered to be "eradicating offspring", thereby reducing the number of potentially deadly mosquitoes in the area and reducing the spread of disease among humans.
Why the deliberate emphasis on female mosquitoes? No matter what kind of mosquito, only female mosquitoes suck human blood, while male mosquitoes are simple "vegetarians". Female mosquitoes also suck blood because spawning requires a lot of energy, and this energy can be well replenished by sucking blood.
04 Destroy the ecology? The offspring of genetically modified mosquito breeding may have genetic mutations, leading to the birth of "super mosquitoes"
Theoretically, this approach is practical, reducing the impact of mosquitoes on humans, which is indeed a program that benefits humans. But it is likely to trigger other problems, the biggest of which is that the offspring of genetically modified mosquitoes may have genetic mutations, which in turn will lead to the birth of unknown "super mosquitoes".
First, genetically modified mosquitoes are not regenerative, that is, the extermination of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes alone requires a steady stream of genetically modified mosquitoes. The native Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in the wild are still evolving and developing, so in the long run, to complete this cause, we must not only continue to pay, and may even end up with "bamboo baskets to hit the water empty." ”
Second, as part of the ecological chain, the Aedes aegypti mosquito is not so simple to control, it is actually a difficult thing. Mosquitoes are not limited by the region, and even if they release more genetically modified mosquitoes, they can continue to enter outside.
Third, from a natural point of view, the United States may be through human genetic intervention, from a certain point of view, this is a violation of the laws of nature, but also in the destruction of ecology. If we want to control mosquitoes, we should also adopt the best control of "natural enemies", rather than humans creating "gene-edited mosquitoes" to control.
Fourth, mosquitoes are part of the food chain, and if humans exterminate all mosquitoes, then other organisms that feed on mosquitoes in the region will also be affected, and the stability of the ecological balance will certainly be affected.
Fifth, a similar project has been practiced in Brazil before. After millions of genetically modified mosquitoes were released, the effect was counterproductive. Some scientists believe the project accidentally created a super-resistant mosquito that is harder to kill. Blood sucking and transmission may be stronger, more survivable, and resistant to common insecticides.
05 Conclusion
There are no mosquitoes in the world, many mosquito-fed organisms will suffer different degrees of blows, under the action of the butterfly effect, may also cause a larger scale of "biological extinction", it is also likely to affect humans.
It can be seen that this approach of the United States is a bit "abrupt", and with the intervention of human beings, it may have a worse impact. This is likely to be lifting a stone and dropping it on your own feet!