Candidate for most insane idea ever: FDA considers releasing millions of genetically modified mosquitoes

Trying to reason with mosquito season

“Flying syringes.”

The very thought makes me want to run for cover.

This “big idea” has been around for a while now. It’s big, but pretty simple… Deliver vaccines via mosquitoes.

So far, this screwball plan is still in the “what if?” stage. But there’s another medical mosquito scheme in the works. And it’s much worse.

Right now, the FDA, USDA, and other agencies are considering a program that would release millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys.

Sure! Fantastic idea! We’ll just experiment with huge insect populations, the birds and animals that eat them, and the health of hundreds of thousands of people.

What could POSSIBLY go wrong?

I wish I were kidding

Bear with me a moment while I explain how this Franken-mosquito works. There are potential devils in the details.

Scientists insert an altered gene in male mosquitoes. This new gene disrupts cells. (Already it sounds like the opening scene of a horror movie.)

Offspring of the males inherit the cell-disrupting gene. They die young before they can breed. And the mosquito population is reduced.

Now… Here’s the catch. There’s an antidote. If the original males or their offspring ingest a bit of the antibiotic tetracycline, they might survive.

And what are the chances these man-altered mutants will pick up some tetracycline?

Funny story.

When the Franken-mosquitoes were first developed, researchers fed them cat food. The cat food contained chicken meat. The meat came from chickens that received — yep — tetracycline. Nearly 20% of the gene-altered mosquitoes survived.

Oops!

But the company that developed this scheme says there’s no reason to worry. They say the chances of this happening in the wild are “negligible.”

Okay. Two things…

First — tetracycline is one of the most widely used antibiotics. So read the word “negligible” as “possible.”

Second — the cat food episode is a perfect example of how one small detail can turn into a huge problem. And when you’re talking about genetically modified creatures, what happens then? Nobody knows. Maybe nothing happens. Or maybe it disrupts the ecosystem in wildly unpredictable ways.

This plan is fairly new. So far, the UK firm Oxitec that developed the technology has conducted all the research. None of that research has been peer reviewed. So Oxitec is basically saying, “Trust us!”

Specifically, they’re saying, “Trust us,” to residents of the Florida Keys.

Three years ago, dengue fever caused a small health crisis in the Keys. Mosquitoes spread dengue. So Oxitec applied for a permit to test GMO mosquitoes down there.

While the FDA mulls that over, residents of the Keys debate the prospect of becoming guinea pigs in a GMO experiment. But if this scheme ends in disaster, the devastating effects could easily reach far beyond the balmy Keys.

And once the genie is out of that bottle…

Sources:
“Study findings support release of mosquitoes” Timothy O’Hara, Florida Keys News, 2/23/13, keysnews.com

“FDA Turns South Floridians into Human Guinea Pigs” Alliance for Natural Health, 9/4/12, anh-usa.org

“Oxitec’s Flawed Science Underpins Rush to Commercialize GE Mosquitoes” Food and Water Watch, 3/27/12, foodandwaterwatch.org

“Mosquitoes Shoot Blanks in Scientist’s Air War on Dengue” Andrea Gerlin, Bloomberg News, 5/3/12, bloomberg.com