Brazil has recently approved the usage of genetically modified mosquitos to help control the spread of dengue fever. Dengue fever affects over 50 million people each year and can kill people. It is transfered by mosquitos to humans has has recently shown up in the United States. A biotech company called Oxitec based out of Oxford, UK can up with the new technology that has caused the population of mosquitoes to drop 79 percent in a city in Brazil in only 7 months.
Oxitec released genetically engineered males (Aedes aegypti) that produce offspring that die before reaching maturity, and if these males mate with enough females the population will drop. The drop in population will decrease the chance of passing along the dengue virus. In the United States the use of these mosquitoes are up for approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
NOS Themes:
Science is collaborative- Oxitec is sharing their information with others
Conflicts within the scientific community- How are different groups of scientist going to react to the loss of mosquitoes
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