Promessa da empresa é acabar com a dengue. Resultados nunca foram publicados numa revista científica, mas já foram requisitadas patentes em todos os países onde se pretende usar a tecnologia. A experiência é feita diretamente com a população da periferia de Juazeiro e Jacobina (BA).
Próximo passo das empresas Oxitec e Moscamed é liberar no meio ambiente moscas transgênicas (Ceratis capitata) que supostamente controlariam pragas da fruticultura irrigada do vale do São Francisco, onde está instalada a fábrica de mosquitos.
Brazil’s ‘mutant’ mosquitoes attack disease
Millions of genetically modified mosquitoes will be released in Brazil over the next few months under an ambitious approach to tackle dengue fever, the world’s fastest spreading tropical disease. Scientists have added a gene to the dengue-spreading insect which renders it capable of destroying its own species.
This week the Down to Earth team visits Jacobina in the north east of Brazil, the first city in the world to trial this measure on a large scale. The insects are bred in a nearby ‘mosquito factory’ where they’re fed animal blood and antibiotics before being unleashed as adults. An earlier pilot study showed that the wild population decreased by 85 percent in an area where GM mosquitoes were released.
While Brazil is no stranger to food biotechnology, genetically modified animals are relatively new. Opponents warn that not enough tests have been done to measure the long term consequences of these mosquitoes on the ecosystem.