科学家获得一种显性突变蚊子 美国将在佛州和德州释放转基因蚊子

美国将在佛州和德州释放转基因蚊子  

A British biotech pany called Oxitec has permission to release geically modified mosquitoes in Florida and Texas.
The Environmental Protection Agency approved an experimental use permit May 1 that allows Oxitec to release geically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys and Harris County
Texas
where Houston is located.
"To meet today's public health challenges head-on
the nation needs to facilitate innovation and advance the science around new tools and approaches to better protect the health of all Americans
” according to the EPA's news release.
环保局发布的新闻稿中写道：“为了正面迎接现在的公共卫生挑战，美国需要促进创新、推动围绕新工具和新方法的科学进步，以更好地保护所有美国人的健康。”
The permit
which lasts for o years
requires Oxitec to "monitor and sample the mosquito population weekly."
"EPA has also maintained the right to cancel the (permit) at any point during the 24-month period if unforeseen outes occur
” according to the release.
Remember a few years ago when people – especially pregnant women – were concerned about contracting the Zika virus?
It's the virus that could cause a birth defect called microcephaly (underdevelopment of the head and brain)
according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Well
Oxitec claims its Aedes aegypti mosquito (known as the OX5034) can drastically reduce the spread of Zika as well as dengue
chikungunya and yellow fever.
Male mosquitoes don't bite; they feed on flower nectar. Basically
male mosquitoes are harmless to humans. But female mosquitoes use blood to grow their eggs.
Oxitec created a male mosquito with a special gene that prevents female offspring from surviving to adulthood. The new males grow up
mate with more females and over time the number of Aedes Aegypti declines.
In Brazil
which suffered a Zika outbreak in 2015 and 2016
the pany claims its "friendly" mosquitoes reduced the population of Aedes Aegypti by 89% to 96%.
Is there opposition to these geically modified mosquitoes?
Yes.
Oxitec has been trying to make Florida the first US test site for its "friendly" mosquitoes for nearly a decade.
The pany came close in 2016
but local officials in Monroe County (the Florida Keys) ultimately voted no. Oxitec pulled its request and decided to try again with what it described as an upgraded version of the mosquito. That's what the EPA approved May 1.
Before weekly mosquito releases can start
however
the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District have to approve.
The Florida Keys Environmental Coalition hopes to persuade officials to vote no again.
"We have repeatedly asked for Oxitec to work with us to prove the technology is safe
" Barry Wray
executive director of the Florida Keys Environmental Coalition
said in a statement in 2018 after Oxitec applied for its second permit.
"Instead of receiving Oxitec's cooperation to provide this confidence
we have witnessed a pattern of avoidance
misrepresentations
obfuscations and using marketing and political influence to persuade the stakeholders to proceed with what is truly a poorly designed experiment on our public and ecosystems
" Wray said.
The Texas releases aren't scheduled until 2021.