The fight against dengue and Zika in Latin America is turning into a contest between mosquito-altering technologies, and between profits and public health.
Eliminate Dengue says that by releasing females infected with the bacterium, called Wolbachia, eventually all mosquitoes in an area will acquire the germ, effectively replacing local mosquitoes with ones that don’t spread disease. It says the cost of eliminating the viruses could be as low as $1 a person, after a campaign of releasing about a million mosquitoes in a year over several square kilometers.
Companies like Oxitec, on the other hand,…describes its technology as “self-limiting.” The males, made sterile because of a genetic alteration, cause mosquito populations…to decline. But it’s also likely to be more expensive.
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For companies [like Oxitec], investing millions in technology that might be used just once doesn’t make sense. What’s more, creating permanent changes to the environment raises difficult new regulatory questions….
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Are Altered Mosquitoes a Public Health Project, or a Business?
