Monday 16 July 2012

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OPPOSE GENETICALLY ENGINEERED MOSQUITOES - THEY SHOUT APOCALYPSE!!!



Hundreds of thousands of people have signed a petition opposing the release of mutant mosquitoes in Florida, which have been genetically engineered to kill off insects and curb disease. 
British Company, Oxitec, the team working on the mutant mosquitoes claim, their aim is to combat the spread of Dengue Fever in the area. 
But residents in Key West are petitioning against the move, saying they do not want to be guinea pigs in a test to defer a disease that can be otherwise controlled.
A resident, Mila De Miler said, 
"The Florida Keys is a beautiful place, and it's my home," 
"We won't be lab rats just so this company can make money. Oxitec says we have to do this to control mosquitoes, but it's just not true. Other methods of mosquito control are working. We don't need to gamble with mutant mosquitoes." 
Miler also added that,
"some of the consequences of genetically-modified crops: Superweeds more resistant to herbicides, mutated and resistant insects also collateral damage to ecosystems. A recent news story reported that the monarch butterfly population is down by half in areas where Roundup Ready GM crops are doused with ultra-high levels of herbicides that wipe out the monarch's favorite milkweed plant".
The petition, which has been published on www.change.org, claims that the Oxitec is using a  loophole to pass additional ordinance testing by applying directly to the FDA for an "animal bug" patent.  "This could mean these mutant mosquitoes could be released at any point against the wishes of locals and the scientific community. We need to make sure the FDA does not approve Oxitec's patent," the petition reads. 
According to residents, the Dengue fever that the company claims the mosquitoes will combat, has been absent from the Keys region  since 2010, due to increased control methods. In the petition residents say that mutated mosquito could even bring a new strain of the disease. 
Meanwhile, 6,000 genetically modified mutant mosquitoes were released in Malaysia last year, in an aim of curbing dengue fever. 

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