Can Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes Help Fight Disease?

Host Myles Bess dives into the science and policy surrounding the use of genetically engineered mosquitoes to combat mosquito-borne diseases like Zika, Dengue Fever and chikungunya.

ABOVE THE NOISE is a show that cuts through the hype and takes a deeper look at the research behind controversial and trending topics in the news. Hosted by Myles Bess and Shirin Ghaffary.

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Mosquitoes aren’t just annoying-- they are big time killers spreading terrible diseases. Remember the Zika outbreak last year? That was spread primarily by the mosquito species-- Aedes aegypti. And this species is pretty nasty it also transmits dengue fever and chikungunya. And to top it all off-- it’s really hard to control their populations-- they thrive in residential areas and can breed in super small amounts of water. So any still water sitting in your yard can act as a breeding ground for these bugs. Traditional control methods include using pesticides, larvicides and reducing breeding grounds-- which often means eliminating any small puddles of water that have accumulated like on buckets left outdoors, play structures, and other items found around a yard.

In an effort to control these mosquito populations and reduce the spread of mosquito-borne diseases some scientists at the British company OXITEC have turned to genetic engineering. They have engineered the mosquitoes to over-produce a certain protein which in turn causes the mosquitoes to die. Here’s how it works. The modified male mosquitoes are released into the wild since the males don’t bite. They then mate with the wild female mosquitoes and pass their killer genetics onto their offspring. Once their offspring hatch they die young, before they are able to reproduce and bite you. As their offspring die off, the population decreases. And as for the genetically modified male that was released into the wild, he dies in a couple of days after being released.

These modified mosquitoes have been released in Brazil, Cayman Islands, and Panama-- and they have indeed ended up reducing the mosquito populations there. And now OXITEC and the mosquito control board in the Florida Keys wants to do a trial release in Florida to see if it’ll work there. But there’s a vocal group of residents there that are opposed to this idea. Check out the video to explore the science and policy around the release of these mosquitoes in Florida.

SOURCES:

FDA’s Environmental Assessment for the Investigational Use of Aedes aegypti OX513A

FDA’s Findings of No Significant Impact

Letter of Intent to Sue:

OXITEC’s explains the science:

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[okuno]

Jeez, that is textbook not-in-my-backyard behavior. Regardless of whether the GM mosquitos are safe, the voters' methodology is pretty selfish.

[polarispulsar]

well if it means it can get rid of the pests and not harm us...


I'M IN!

[John-ekts]

Who came here from life noggin as well?

[sins]

I'm nowhere near fully informed on the arguments but the whole "no-GMO at all" argument seems a bit broad and "late to the party" considering most of what we consume is already heavily edited. Two off the top of my head are: Bananas, they have the tiniest seeds (can they even grow from seeds anymore?) and Holstein cows, they are basically bags of bones with giant udders and can't even support themselves to live a full life if they don't get slaughtered.

Also i'm pretty sure there are enough numbers showing how many people are actively dying of malaria each day while we wait for a potential cure that so far says it should not cause adverse affects to other lives. It really seems like this is individual fear of the unknown versus peer reviewed research.

[juanisalorio]

I talk Spanish, I was studying English for 5 years and I understand all that you say, you have an incredible way of expressing yourself, this is a great channel, I send you regards from Argentina

[splat]

To many people hear GMO and freak out. if they look at what is being done, they could see that it ham very little chance of hurting anything, except for those mosquitoes. Great video, keep it up!

[HamCUHC]

HOW DOES THIS CHANNEL HAVE ONLY 6 THOUSAND SUBS!? IT SHOULD HAVE HUNDRED THOUSAND, OR EVEN MILLIONS OF SUBSCRIBERS!

[ram_slade-minsofgameplay]

1:55
*"We are humans, And we don't like being treated like guinea pigs!"*
LOL

[AdamSmith-ueyo]

Came from Life Noggin, stayed for Above the Noise. Subscribed!

[JohnWestIV]

Deep Look brought me here and it was an instant subscribe after this video. Looking forward to going through your back catalog and seeing future productions!

[oafkad]

Ironic that a place with tons of different kinds of Mosquitoes would have "Haven" in its name.

Yeah...more like a Hell :p.

[jamesroe]

this method of mosquito control seems much less efficient than a gene drive, but with less unknowns. AWESOME VIDEO!

[vnkamath]

life Noggin sent me here and even above the noise is good..so subscribed

[SpencerMcEvil]

I saw I had a new sub, and he was subbed to this channel and this channel is so

[richwillard]

Concise, balanced, informative, and excellent delivery of the message!

[motto]

THIS is what we need more of! spread knowledge and discuss!

[akaltar]

Great video! I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages by far. The only valid concern I see is ethics. Theoretically the mosquitoes could get the same gene themselves. And a trial doesn't yet mean that we kill of all mosquitoes which could break the food chain.

It's a trial, that we need so we can see the consequences.

[vyrthian_]

u really deserve more subs because u are really smart and u deserve to be popular <3

[pewpew]

Wow this chanel is gonna grow for sure

[justindeloach]

Life Noggin sent me. awesome channel! love it already.