FL Keys Board Oks Release Of Genetically Modified ‘Frankenskeeters’ To Combat Mosquito-Borne Illness

From the Florida Phoenix:

By Laura Cassels
August 19, 2020e

Over vocal protests, the last permission needed to start releasing hundreds of millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys was granted Tuesday by the region’s mosquito-control district.

Numerous critics in scientific and environmental organizations oppose the project, with at least one calling it a “Jurassic Park” experiment that could go terribly wrong.

Florida Phoenix columnist Craig Pittman reported that local opponents call the genetically modified mosquitoes “Frankenskeeter.”

Also Tuesday, state health authorities in Monroe County confirmed two new cases of mosquito-borne Dengue fever, bringing the total for the season to 47. Dengue, which is spread by the non-native mosquito species Aedes aegypti, causes severe flu-like symptoms.

The genetically modified mosquitoes designed to kill off Aedes aegypti are engineered by Oxitec, a company owned by Palm Beach County biotech mogul Randal J. Kirk. Oxitec markets its creatures as “Friendly™” mosquitoes. Voters in the test site originally proposed for the releases strongly opposed the project, but voters countywide supported it, Pittman reported.

“The Mosquito Control Board has an obligation to our community, not a vendor that’s products are risky and untrustworthy. [The board] wants to proceed with an experiment that may be damaging to public and environmental health and our local economy,” said Barry Wray, executive director of the Florida Keys Environmental Coalition, in a press release Tuesday. “We need true solutions to benefit our community and ecosystems.”

“With all the urgent crises facing our nation and the state of Florida — the COVID-19 pandemic, racial injustice, climate change — the administration has used tax dollars and government resources for a Jurassic Park experiment. … What could possibly go wrong?,” said Jaydee Hanson, policy director for the International Center for Technology Assessment and Center for Food Safety.

Hanson and Wray’s comments were issued jointly in a press release along with Friends of the Earth, arguing that Oxitec has not adequately addressed environmental risks and potential negative health impacts, including the possibility of engineered and wild mosquitoes breeding and creating a hybrid mosquito capable of making problems worse.

Oxitec’s project already has gained approval from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

This story was originally published by the Florida Phoenix. For more stories from the Florida Phoenix, visit FloridaPhoenix.com.