According to a report by United Press International (UPI) on the 19th, the Monroe County Mosquito Control District in Florida signed a project to release approximately 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes. The female offspring produced by these mosquitoes die in the larval stage and do not grow large enough to bite and spread disease. Both the Florida state government and the U.S. government have approved the project.

The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District considers this program a way to limit the reproduction of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes transmit dengue fever and other diseases and are resistant to insecticides.

This is the first time genetically modified mosquitoes have been released in the United States, and some health officials and citizens have questioned the safety of the plan. Jaydee Hanson, policy director of a US non-profit organization, said that the US Environmental Protection Agency refused to seriously analyze the environmental risks that this move may cause, and people don’t know what problems will happen in the future.

Extended information

242,000 people signed an online petition opposing the proposal:

When word spread that mosquitoes were about to spread in the Florida Keys, more than 100,000 People signed an online petition opposing the proposal, and that number has now grown to more than 242,000.

Environmental groups are concerned that the spread of genetically modified male genes in wild populations could potentially harm threatened and endangered birds, insects and mammals that feed on mosquitoes.

Beiwan New Vision-The United States approved the release of 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes to prevent the spread of diseases and scare the locals!