Break out the mosquito spray out.
We were just joking, you won’t need mosquito spray because they don’t bite. However, two billion mosquitoes are still set the be released in both California and Florida.
These mosquitoes are genetically modified and they are blank-shooting males. Furthermore, these males mosquitoes are owned by the British company Oxitec and are known as OX5034. These male mosquitoes have been genetically modified to breed with female mosquitoes and will produce female larvae that die off before they reach adulthood.
According to the Washington Examiner, Scientists are attempting to wipe out the mosquito population in these two states to stop the spread of disease and also stop those pesky mosquitoes from biting us.
Oxitec CEO Grey Frandsen explained, “Given the growing health threat this mosquito poses across the U.S., we’re working to make this technology available and accessible. These pilot programs, wherein we can demonstrate the technology’s effectiveness in different climate settings, will play an important role in doing so.”
Last year, 750 million of these genetically modified mosquitoes were released and researchers found the experiment to be a “success” so now they will release even more.
Surprisingly, only female mosquitoes bite humans. By giving them males who cannot successfully reproduce scientists are hoping to decrease the population of mosquitoes over time in America.
Mosquitoes cause over a million human death per year and carry a large variety of diseases including Zika and Malaria. Killing off the mosquito population would be a great success for humanity if accomplished.
