Mutant mosquitoes ?
Some Florida residents protesting mutant mosquitoes plan
By Eric Pfeiffer, Yahoo! News | The Sideshow Tue, Jul 17, 2012
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/florida-residents-protesting-mutant-mosquitoes-plan-002326235.html
More than 100,000 residents in Key West have signed a petition against introducing several thousand genetically modified mosquitoes into the Florida ecosystem.
The Christian Post
http://www.christianpost.com/news/key-west-resident-we-wont-be-lab-rats-for-florida-mutant-mosquitoes-plan-78288/
reports that the 5,000 to 10,000 modified male insects are designed by British company Oxitec to die off more quickly. The hope is that when they reproduce with the local mosquito population, it would eventually reduce the rates of dengue fever.
However, Mila de Mier says that the long-term effects of the so-called "mutant mosquitoes" are unknown and launched an online petition that she plans to deliver to Gov. Rick Scott and other officials once it reaches 150,000 signatures.
http://www.change.org/petitions/say-no-to-genetically-modified-mosquitoes-release-in-the-florida-keys
"There are more questions than answers and we need more testing to be done," de Mier writes on the petition site, claiming that dengue fever has been absent from Key West since 2010.
Although dengue fever has unpleasant symptoms, the U.S. National Library of Medicine says it is not considered a deadly disease. Its effects are commonly treated with Tylenol and fluids.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002350/
And as with all online petitions, it's important to put the results into context. As of now, it's impossible to know exactly how many of the supporters are even residents of Key West. U.S. Census data shows that Key West only has a population of about 25,000 residents and the entire Florida Keys are home to about 73,000 people.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12/1236550.html
The IBTimes notes that concerns over the plan have tapped into a larger debate over genetically modified foods.
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/363464/20120716/mutant-mosquitoes-florida-key-west-petition.htm
"We won't be lab rats just so this company can make money. Oxitec says we have to do this to control mosquitoes, but it's just not true," de Mier told Orlando's WKMG-TV. "Other methods of mosquito control are working. We don't need to gamble with mutant mosquitoes."
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In Florida the mosquito has long been thought of as the state bird . Genetic tampering with such an icon is dangerous at best ...
Every time we mess with the eco system of an area, we make a worse mess.Australiais a prime example. You think we would have learned something from our past... but no.... we still play at being Dr. Frankenstein.
Personally I'd like to see them make a hybrid between a hummingbird and a mosquito .... especially if it could become a zombie ... Like , totally awesome !
This is as close as I could get to that hybrid :
Interesting article. Can't say I blame the residents for their concern.
C'mon Larry . Where's your spirit for adventure ?! This critter looks like it would fit right in to the ecosystem :
Cool Video rich!
Actually my concern is that these genetic modifications triggerunknownDNAreaction. Themosquitoesin Minnesota are so large andaggressive (been toFloridaa few times, ya'll ain't got no mosquitoes down there,guaranteed)they can carry ya away! I don't want no bug modified that may trigger something completely weird!
That looks like it might have come from an episode of Sanctuary...