NO MORE MOSQUITOES
Mosquitoes, both annoying and deadly, may soon be a thing of the past
Do you like mosquitoes? No? I didn’t think so. Fortunately for us, in the near future, the mosquito population could in fact be decimated due to a new approval from Key West officials. This program isn’t exactly what you’d expect, as it is releasing more mosquitoes, not directly killing them.
It sounds strange, but it makes a lot of sense at the same time. These mosquitoes aren’t ordinary, they’ve been genetically modified. Each mosquito that is going to be released will be a male mosquito. Male mosquitoes do not suck blood, only the female mosquitoes do. Instead of sucking blood, the males feed off of nectar from plants. The female mosquitoes use the blood that they collect to make eggs, and then those eggs hatch larva. But in order to make eggs, they still need a mate, and that's where the male mosquito comes in.
Once the genetically modified male mosquito mates with a female, both the female and the female larvae die shortly afterwards. The male eggs, however, hatch and grow into a full mosquito, and the genes from the modified mosquito get passed down As this cycle continues, there will be more male mosquitoes, yet they won’t be any bother to you. There will be fewer and fewer females, and as the males become the majority, mosquitoes will start to die out. If there are no females to create more eggs and increase the population, the amount of mosquitoes is guaranteed to drop.
The benefits of reducing the population of mosquitoes is correlated to health concerns. Mosquitoes can carry harmful diseases, such as Malaria and the Zika virus. While these are just two examples, mosquitos have the ability to be carriers for multiple different diseases. The Zika virus can cause flu-like symptoms as well as birth defects if a pregnant woman contracts it. This collateral effect that reducing the mosquito population has may make a noticeable difference in health across Florida, and eventually other states and/or countries.
If you’re worrying that the reduction of the mosquito population will affect the food chain, don’t worry. It may affect an ecosystem on a minor scale, but will not devastate any. The birds and fish that eat mosquitoes or mosquito larvae have other food sources that they can rely on, and these officials have been working with ecologists to ensure that their plan won't damage the environment.
While the program is attempting to single out a single mosquito, known as the Aedes aegypti, it may have an effect on others. The reason why they are targeting one specific mosquito is because that specific species can potentially carry a wide variety of diseases.
The Monroe County Mosquito Control Board of Commissioners met on August 18th and had their plan greenlighted. It was then discussed that they were to go through with releasing the mosquitoes in 2021, specifically in the Florida Keys.
While this new proposal may sound scary at first, the newly introduced mosquitoes will not be able to harm anyone. Not only will the blood-sucking insects' absence from Florida neighborhoods be a blessing, but deadly diseases such as the Zika virus will afflict fewer and fewer people.
This is Jason’s third year here at Edgewood, starting out in 7th grade. This is his first year in magazine staff, though he has taken Journalism classes previously. He enjoys spending his time hanging out with friends and family.