RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Currently, it is about the alleged prevention of yellow fever in Florida. Soon it could also be about “vaccinating” people with genetically modified insects – even against their will.
No one has calculated the risk of such a major intervention in nature – it could cause entire ecosystems to collapse. Already two billion genetically modified Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes are expected to be released within the next two years.
Years ago, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation identified a major enemy in Florida: the yellow fever plague, transmitted by yellow fever mosquitoes. That is why they are funding the experiments of the Oxford-based Oxitec biotech company, which is working on the necessary biotechnology.
The goal, the eradication of these mosquitoes, is to be achieved by releasing genetically modified conspecifics that have a special characteristic. They can – allegedly – produce only male offspring that are viable. Females would die before reaching sexual maturity.
In this way, mosquito populations are to be sustainably minimized or wiped out – so far as the plan goes. The aim is to contain the spread not only of yellow fever but also of malaria, Zika, dengue, and chikungunya.
All these pathogens are, by the way, being researched in U.S.-funded bio labs around the world, most recently in Ukraine.
UNFORESEEABLE RISKS
The risks of the experiment are considerable. Mosquitoes are relatively low on the food chain, and numerous other animals depend on being able to eat enough of them. If the plan works, various consequences are conceivable.
On the one hand, it could lead to the uncontrolled extinction of many other animal species; on the other hand, it would be possible that other insects would occupy the vacated niche over time. But these are still the more harmless variants.
It is unknown whether the mosquitoes’ altered DNA actually remains only in their own species or also passes into that of the animals that feed on them. It is also unclear whether resistance will develop or whether the wild mosquitoes will not recognize the difference anyway and refuse to mate.
CONCERNS ARE BRUSHED AWAY
Locally, there is much opposition to the project – and the arguments put forward. For example, it has not even been proven that this particular mosquito transmits the diseases that the project is intended to combat.
At least that’s what Dana Perls, head of the non-governmental organization ‘Friends of the Earth’, claims. Perls explains that to date there are no results from last year’s trials that have gone through a scientific peer-review process. She called the plans “destructive” and “harmful to public health.”
The lack of confirmed Aedes aegypti disease transmission in California was also a concern for Perls: “There is no immediate problem, and there are a lot of unknowns,” she said.
ONCE RELEASED, THE ANIMALS ARE UNSTOPPABLE
What Perls is certainly right about, however, is the fact that once they are released, there is no way to remove them from the environment. This is similar to the problem of not being able to remove experimental mRNA substances from the people they are injected into. In both cases, Bill Gates is one of the main parties involved.