July 20, 2017.
To eradicate mosquitoes carrying viruses, Google has created genetically modified mosquitoes capable of killing Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Fascinating or terrifying?
20,000 GMO mosquitoes released into the wild
The Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, carriers of the Zika virus, yellow fever, dengue or Chikungunya kill millions of people every year. To fight against this species of mosquitoes, a branch of Google has embarked on a new project in partnership with MosquitoMate, a company in Kentucky, in the United States: create a genetically modified mosquito capable of eradicating the Aedes aegypti mosquito population.
This sci-fi film project will be tested in Fresno, California. It is in this corner of the world that 20,000 GMO mosquitoes will be dispersed. “ The aim of this experiment is to modify the genetic heritage of mosquitoes », Explains Frédéric Jourdain, engineer at the National Center of Expertise on Disease Vectors (CNEV) in the columns of the Point. ” Introducing a gene that makes mosquitoes dependent on an antibiotic “.
An experience that calls for caution
If it does not receive this antibiotic, the genetically modified mosquito dies. This discovery seems stupendous but it seems just as terrifying: “ If we manage to remove a species, this will free up an ecological niche that could favor the arrival of new vectors. », Explains Frédéric Jourdain. However, this is not the first time that this type of experiment has been carried out.
Oxitec, a British company, had previously altered the genome of male mosquitoes and released them over the Caiman Islands, Malaysia, Brazil, Panama and Florida. After these experiments, however, a few questions remain unanswered. What are the health and environmental impacts? Has the number of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes fallen? The High Council of Biotechnologies recently called for the greatest caution on these questions.
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Marine Rondot
