British biotech firm will release millions of GMO mosquitoes in Florida

A British biotech firm plans to release millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys, all for the sake of public health, according to the Associated Press. The goal of the plan is to reduce populations of the insects, which spread dengue and chikungunya, two painful viral diseases.

In fact, according to UPI reports, more than 140,000 people living in that state have signed a petition attempting to prevent the organization, Oxitec, from moving forward with their research - which just happens to involve the release of millions of genetically modified mosquitoes.

The Associated Press explains that the bloodsucking insects have been altered to produce offspring incapable of surviving to adulthood. Once released into the wild, they will seek out female mosquitoes, mate with them, and ultimately help reduce the insect's population - helping to combat the potentially-lethal dengue fever and chikungunya fever in the process.

"This is essentially using a mosquito as a drug to cure disease," said Michael Doyle, executive director of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, told Associated Press.

However, the report notes that even supporters of the proposed project state that Oxitec and their associates first have to prove that the benefits outweigh the risks associated with genetically altered insects that could potentially bite people.

"I think the science is fine, they definitely can kill mosquitoes, but the GMO issue still sticks as something of a thorny issue for the general public," explained Phil Lounibos, a mosquito control researchers at the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory.

Some scientists urge a cautionary approach in releasing genetically modified insects, because researchers are not exactly sure how it will play out when the mosquitos are released en masse into an environment. Hellen Wallace, a genetic modification researcher, explained the danger in a 2011 editorial in Scientific American.

"On release, GM [genetically modified] mosquitoes become part of a complex system involving predators and prey, other mosquito species, four types of dengue virus, other tropical diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, and the humans-including children-who are being bitten and infected."