[ExI] GM Mosquitos in FL (on purpose)

BillK pharos at gmail.com
Sun Aug 23 16:29:14 UTC 2020


On Sun, 23 Aug 2020 at 17:08, SR Ballard via extropy-chat
<extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
> Title: Genetically modified mosquitoes have been OK’d for a first U.S. test flight
>
> https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sciencenews.org/article/genetically-modified-mosquitoes-florida-test-release/amp
>
> “After a decade of fits and starts, officials in the Florida Keys have voted to allow the first test in the United States of free-flying, genetically modified mosquitoes as a way to fight the pests and the diseases they spread.
>
> The decision came after about two hours of contentious testimony in a virtual public hearing on August 18. Many speakers railed against uncertainties in releasing genetically engineered organisms. In the end, though, worries about mosquito-borne diseases proved more compelling. On the day of the vote, dengue fever cases in Monroe County, where the Keys are located, totaled 47 so far in 2020, the first surge in almost a decade.
>
> The same mosquitoes known for yellow fever (Aedes aegypti) also spread dengue as well as Zika and Chikungunya (SN: 6/2/15). The species is especially hard to control among about 45 kinds of mosquitoes that whine around the Keys. Even the powerhouse Florida Keys Mosquito Control District with six aircraft for spraying — Miami has zero — kills only an estimated 30 to 50 percent of the local yellow fever mosquito population with its best pesticide treatments, says district board chairman Phil Goodman.
>
> “We can’t rely on chemistry to spray our way out of this,” Goodman, a chemist himself, said as the commissioners conferred after the public’s comments. Then 4–1, the commissioners voted to go forward with a test of genetically modified males as pest control devices.”
> _______________________________________________


There is going to have to be a lot more like this as climate warming
is spreading tropical diseases further away from the equator.

<https://www.wired.co.uk/article/climate-change-tropical-disease-spread>
Quote:
Climate change is fuelling the spread of deadly tropical diseases

As temperatures creep up, communities are being hit with diseases
they've never encountered before. The consequences are deadly
By Lauren Evans  Friday 24 July 2020

In July, the UN Environment Program released a report stating that
warmer temperatures are fostering disease transmission both by
increasing the population of vectors – including sandflies, mosquitos,
and ticks – and by lengthening the season that the vectors are
present.
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BillK



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