Another week , another ludicrous conspiracy theory . While perhaps not quite as freaky as the melodic theme that Earth is categoric , which has somehow resurface much to the dismay of scientists , it has now beenclaimedthat genetically modified organisms ( GMOs ) areresponsible for the outbreak of Zika virus .
According to sensitive written report , “ critic ” have identified a suspicious trend that could implicate the release of GM mosquitoes , designed to abbreviate the essence of insect - borne diseases , as a possible cause of South America ’s current epidemic . Namely , that where these insects were released in trial zones in Brazil cooccur with the outbreak ’s epicenter .
Now , this is repeated a tidy sum in science , because position such as this call for it : correlation does not entail causation . If it did , then we could say that a reduction in the number of piratescaused global warming . no matter , this claim is really not truthful : Trial sites of these insects were in fact more than 400 kilometers ( 250 miles ) from the heart and soul of disease outbreak , British Biotech firmOxitec sound out in a reply . In improver , this species of mosquito only flies a couple of hundred meters in its entire lifetime .
Zika Outbreak Epicenter In Same Area Where GM Mosquitoes Were unloose In 2015https://t.co/0vvLWaueAxpic.twitter.com/38ZxhwBGgZ
— The D.C. Clothesline ( @DCClothesline)January 29 , 2016
Zika is not a unexampled thing – we ’ve known about this computer virus for more than half a century , while outdoor trials for Oxitec ’s GM mosquito only begin in 2009 . First identify in a rapscallion in Africa back in1947 , Zika later open to Asia but gained little care , presumably because symptom are generally so mild that few lawsuit were identified or report . Things then stay still until 2007 when it come out in the South Pacific and get severallarge eruption .
While we do n’t know how Zika afterward ended up in South America , it ’s beenspeculatedthat it was brought over to Brazil during the 2014 World Cup by travelers coming from an affected area . TheAedes aegyptimosquitoes that spread Zika , alongside dengue and other serious viral fevers , are abundant in Brazil and throughout Latin America , so an infected traveller seems a likely path of entryway .
But the idea is that somehow , GM mosquitoesexacerbated the situation . These insects have a gene that causes issue to die before they ’re ripe enough to regurgitate , so by unblock them in sufficient numbers , they successfully compete with males in the state of nature for females and ultimately end up significantly reducing populations .
To be able-bodied to raise these insect to sufficient numeral for release , scientists engineer a system whereby the lethal gene is switched off in the bearing of an antibiotic called tetracycline . Sometimes used in agriculture to boost stock growth , this drug gets excreted by beast and is known to be present in the environment in small amounts . There has therefore been business that this could allow the change mosquito to endure in the environment , butstudies have shownthat the amount the worm would be exposed to is n’t enough to reduce the effectiveness of the organization .
" Brazil in reality banned the use of tetracycline in Agriculture Department nutrient additives in 2009 , " Andy McKemey from Oxitec told IFLScience . " But even if it was present in the environment where mosquito lie ballock , it would n’t result in more mosquitoes than you would have otherwise . The offspring would still hold the gene , so the next contemporaries would die . The efficacy of the gene is not lost . "
The modified mosquito also have fluorescent factor so that they can be monitored in the environment . Oxitec
With no cogent evidence to substantiate the title that GM mosquitoes caused the Zika outbreak , it ’s best to treat the idea as it is : a cabal possibility . In addition , anywebsitesthat compare assert genetic techniques to " Jurassic Park " are probably better ignored .
