{"id":62649,"date":"2021-04-28T13:45:26","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T17:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=62649"},"modified":"2021-04-28T13:45:26","modified_gmt":"2021-04-28T17:45:26","slug":"bill-gates-backed-biotech-that-released-swarms-of-gmo-mosquitoes-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=62649","title":{"rendered":"Bill Gates backed biotech that released swarms of GMO mosquitoes in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<figure class=\"entry-thumbnail\"><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"FLA Mosquitoes Gates RT feat 4 28 21\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelibertybeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/FLA-Mosquitoes-Gates-RT-feat-4-28-21.jpg?fit=620%2C280&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"article__heading\">Florida set to release swarms of GMO mosquitoes as residents decry \u2018criminal experiment\u2019 by Bill Gates-backed biotech<\/h2>\n<p><strong>(RT-USA News)<\/strong><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"article__summary summary \">A plan to release thousands of genetically modified mosquitoes in an effort to combat disease in the Florida Keys has triggered dire concerns among locals, some saying the \u201ccriminal\u201d experiment will turn them into guinea pigs.<\/h4>\n<div class=\"article__text text \">\n<p>Spearheaded by the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) and Oxitec, a British biotech firm that\u2019s received<strong> backing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation<\/strong>, the project aims to turn\u00a0the first swarms of gene-edited bugs loose into the Keys starting sometime this week, the two bodies announced in a joint\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/keysmosquito.org\/2021\/04\/23\/fkmcd-oxitec-announce-site-participation-for-groundbreaking-keys-mosquito-project\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/index.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1385564924286541830&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelibertybeacon.com%2Fflorida-set-to-release-swarms-of-gmo-mosquitoes-bill-gates-backed-biotech%2F&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1385564924286541830\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For the first leg of the plan, set to be expanded later, mosquito boxes will be placed at six locations, which over 12 weeks will release around 144,000 Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, a species most closely linked with transmitting illnesses such as dengue, Zika and yellow fever. If all goes according to plan, the male, non-biting bugs will mate with local biting females, whose female offspring are programmed to die off, helping to control the Aedes aegypti population and reduce the spread of disease.<\/p>\n<p>While the particular species makes up only about 4% of the overall population in the Keys, it is behind\u00a0<em>\u201cvirtually all\u201d<\/em>\u00a0mosquito-borne diseases passed to humans, as well as some that are transmitted to animals, such as heartworm, according to Oxitec.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/pesticides\/epa-approves-experimental-use-permit-test-innovative-biopesticide-tool-better-protect\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Approved<\/a>\u00a0by the Environmental Protection Agency last May under an Experimental Use Permit, the project also seeks to cut down on the use of chemical pesticides, which can be harmful to local wildlife. However, while Oxitec presented that as a major perk in selling the plan to local leaders, the mosquito control board has so far given no indication of any plans to reduce pesticide usage.<\/p>\n<p>The UK-based firm, founded in 2002 at Oxford University, also claims that public support for the plan\u00a0<em>\u201cremains high,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0even as locals voice extreme skepticism, some directly to community leaders.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWe may not be scientists, but we read. And what Oxitec says and what we\u2019re reading from other sources are two completely different things,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0one concerned resident, Meagan Hull, said at a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/view.earthchannel.com\/PlayerController.aspx?&amp;PGD=ismrada&amp;eID=435\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">March village council meeting<\/a>, adding\u00a0<em>\u201cI beg you, I implore you to take immediate action [and] consider a resolution against this technology.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><em>I find it criminal that we are being bullied into this experiment \u2013 criminal that we are being subjected to this terrorism by our own Florida Keys Mosquito Control Board.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Another local similarly said she was\u00a0<em>\u201cincredibly concerned\u201d<\/em>\u00a0that the plan is moving ahead, pointing to risk that biting gene-hacked female mosquitoes would emerge in the community.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cEverybody says that\u2019s not going to happen, but I don\u2019t trust that,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0she said, also suggesting a\u00a0<em>\u201clack of transparency\u201d<\/em>\u00a0from Oxitec and the government agencies involved.<\/p>\n<p>Even some elected officials expressed trepidation, with Councilman Mark Gregg calling the GMO mosquitoes\u00a0<em>\u201cFrankenstein bugs.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u201cI hear other people say we\u2019re being made into guinea pigs. Maybe we are\u2026 I just don\u2019t know that it\u2019s ready for prime time yet,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0he said.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The mosquito control board, however, insists on the need to improve its control methods due to pesticide resistance developing in disease-carrying bugs, saying the Oxitec project could provide new tools that are\u00a0<em>\u201csafe, environmentally friendly, and targeted.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Oxitec is no stranger to genetically modified blood-suckers<\/strong>, having already released more than a billion bugs across South America and the Caribbean, such as a 27-month-long experiment in Brazil in 2013 that sought to cut the local mosquito population by 90%. Like the initiative in the Keys, offspring from the GM mosquitoes were meant to die off in Brazil, however Oxitec came under fire in 2019 after researchers published a study alleging that the bugs were reproducing, finding that up to 60% of mosquitoes analyzed contained traces of modified genes.<\/p>\n<p>While the company later disputed those findings, insisting the experiment went as planned, other Oxitec efforts have also been subject to criticism. A like project in the Cayman Islands was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.caymancompass.com\/2018\/11\/25\/minister-no-more-funds-for-genetically-modified-mosquito-program\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">terminated<\/a>\u00a0in 2018 after local officials concluded it had failed, with Health Minister Dwayne Seymour saying the plan\u00a0<em>\u201cwasn\u2019t getting the results that we thought we could get.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Months before its Cayman Islands contract fell through, the company\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20180709191047\/https:\/\/www.oxitec.com\/oxitec-to-apply-new-generation-of-self-limiting-mosquito-technology-to-malaria-spreading-mosquitoes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announced<\/a>\u00a0a <strong>partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation<\/strong> to produce similar\u00a0<em>\u201cfriendly\u201d<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>\u201cself-limiting\u201d<\/em>\u00a0mosquitoes, this time for the Anopheles species, which spread malaria. Since then, <strong>Oxitec has raked in just shy of $8.5 million from Gates, according to the foundation\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gatesfoundation.org\/about\/committed-grants?q=oxitec#jump-nav-anchor0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">financial records<\/a>, receiving more than $1.2 million so far in 2021 alone.<\/strong>\u00a0It is unclear whether any of those funds were devoted to the Florida Keys plan.<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelibertybeacon.com\/florida-set-to-release-swarms-of-gmo-mosquitoes-bill-gates-backed-biotech\/\">https:\/\/www.thelibertybeacon.com\/florida-set-to-release-swarms-of-gmo-mosquitoes-bill-gates-backed-biotech\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62649\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}