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Image by Lori Tingey via Flickr \/ Futurism<\/p><\/div>\n
FUTURISM<\/p>\n
The British biotech company Oxitec is moving ahead with its controversial plan to release hundreds of millions of gene-hacked mosquitoes<\/a>, an experimental new form of targeted pest control, in the Florida Keys.<\/p>\n The goal is essentially to introduce a new genetically altered version of the\u00a0Aedes aegypti\u00a0<\/em>mosquito \u2014 which can spread diseases like dengue and malaria \u2014 that can only hatch male, non-biting offspring, in order to gradually reduce the population.<\/p>\n A connection that has gone mostly unremarked during the experiment\u2019s rollout is the involvement of Microsoft co-founder and public health philanthropist Bill Gates in the funding of the company,\u00a0confirmed by Oxitec back in 2018<\/a>, through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.<\/p>\n Based on past reports, it seems that the Gates Foundation\u00a0pledged about $4.1 million<\/a>\u00a0to Oxitec in 2018 to develop a new mosquito that would target malaria in the Americas, South Asia, and eastern Africa. Oxitec was\u00a0also reportedly awarded $5 million<\/a>\u00a0for its\u00a0Aedes<\/em>\u00a0mosquitoes \u2014 the kind set for release in Florida \u2014 through the Gates Foundation\u2019s Global Grand Challenges initiative in 2010. Meanwhile,\u00a0Science Magazine<\/em>\u00a0reported<\/a> in 2010 that the Gates Foundation had dished out $19.7 million for a project in which Oxitec took part.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve reached out to both Oxitec and the Gates Foundation for clarification about the relationship.<\/p>\n Gates\u2019 involvement complicates the already much-criticized initiative. On the one hand, the experiment could lead to an extraordinary way to control disease, potentially saving hundreds of thousands of lives per year. But critics say it could fail, backfire, or open up the doors to more troubling applications of the technology. And the idea that one of the world\u2019s wealthiest people can help push through gene-editing experiments that are unleashed on the open ecosystem is, to say the least, a touchy subject.<\/p>\n Eradicating malaria has long been high on the list of Gates\u2019 priorities. His philanthropic investment foundation has been pouring money into various fields like malaria vaccine research for years, and he\u2019s been pushing for the idea of using\u00a0genetically modified mosquitoes<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0eliminate the disease<\/a>\u00a0since 2016. That\u2019s just one year after Oxitec finished its first mass mosquito release in Brazil.<\/p>\n \u201cGenetically-modified mosquitoes are showing promise in controlling other vector-borne diseases, so we look forward to exploring their use alongside complementary interventions for malaria,\u201d Gates Foundation malaria director Philip Welkhoff\u00a0said in a press release<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s be clear. Gates has often been a magnet for\u00a0totally unsubstantiated conspiracy theories<\/a>, when in reality he\u2019s contributed billions to worthy causes during his second act as a philanthropist. But he\u2019s also sometimes been criticized for making poor public health calls, as when he\u00a0recently argued<\/a>\u00a0that the US shouldn\u2019t share COVID-19 vaccine formulas with poorer countries. In this case of Florida, some aspects of the gene-edited mosquito release seem rushed, poorly communicated, and badly received by local residents.<\/p>\n