You likely have heard of GMO food, but what about GMO mosquitoes? It sounds like science fiction but it’s now a reality – and we could be merely weeks or months away from millions of genetically modified mosquitoes being unleashed on U.S. soil.
That’s the topic of this week’s edition of Off The Grid Radio, as we talk to one of the nation’s leading experts on the subject, Dr. Walter Tabachnick, a University of Florida professor who is also center director of the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory in Vero Beach, Florida.
Supporters say the GMO mosquitoes are the only hope to fight back two mosquito-borne illnesses in Florida, but opponents say the trial is full of potential dangers.
A straight-shooter, Dr. Tabachnick explains the science in plain-speak and gives us both sides of the argument. The goal is to have only the non-biting male GMO mosquitoes released, and they’ll then mate with the females and their larvae will die, as they’re “engineered” to do.
But opponents have raised a series of questions:
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- What happens when a female GMO mosquito escapes and bites a person, unleashing GMO DNA?
- Why are GMO mosquitoes being used when the illnesses aren’t a problem in Florida?
- What type of research has been conducted on GMO mosquitoes biting humans?
- What types of ecosystem problems will be created by killing off an entire species of insects?
The GMO insect debate is one that could end up impacting all Americans. Listen as Dr. Tabachnick tells us what we need to know.