An organization making use of a group of genetically altered mosquitoes would like the Food and Drug Administration to issue an emergency approval of the use of such insects to combat Zika virus.
This organization is allegedly a GMO mosquito company, according to ABC News. Federal authorities are believed to be involved in GMO's said mission to combat Zika virus.
Word has it that the Oxitec modified the DNA found in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that distribute the virus everywhere to kill their children before the latter reach adulthood. Hadyn Parry, a CEO for the British organization, made this announcement to the House of Representatives' Committee on Science, Space, and Technology in Washington on Wednesday, as reported in Wfaa.com.
The organization only dispatched male mosquitoes, for the reason that these mosquitoes cannot bite. As long as mosquitoes cannot bite, the likelihood that the disease would be contagious is lesser.
Scientists have seen the existence of Zika in 39 countries and territories located in the Caribbean and Latin America, as observed by the Pan American Health Organization. Zika was at most in high spread in the U.S. territory, Puerto Rico, severely. The virus has affected over 800 people, so far.
The Zika virus can be a cause of about 13% of birth defects, as reported by in The Verge. Birth defects caused by Zika occur when women contracted the Zika virus while pregnant. And this virus can distribute all over the United States in the weeks and months to come. Oxitec has held trials in Brazil, the Cayman Islands, Panama and Malaysia. In these places, it was found that genetically altered mosquitoes have lessened the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes 90%.
U.S. residents are worried that these mosquitoes could produce devastating impacts on the environment. This is because they have never been released to the wild before.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
