Scientists Unveil Genetically Modified Insects with ‘Kill Switch’ Genes
Biotechnologists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a ‘kill-switch’ for genetically modified insects. It is meant to assist corporations in controlling genetically modified organisms set free in the wild. But just the same as with all other GM creations, this has yet to be risk-assessed, and is already being heralded as the next ‘terrific scientific development.’
Researchers say that what once was science-fiction is now a reality. Utilizing a gene-editing technology, scientists have developed a way to delete entire strains of DNA instead of just editing them. At first glance, this would seem advantageous. If an insect was let loose in the wild, such as the millions of GM mosquitoes developed by Oxitec to be released in Brazil and Florida which are meant to control dengue fever (you can see a Youtube about the GM mosquitoes near the bottom of this article), humans could simply develop a ‘kill switch’ that would stop the GM mosquitoes from propagating.
However, it has already been shown that GM mosquitoes will likely interbreed with the non-GM mosquitoes. If the GM insects are developed with the ‘kill-switch,’ what will happen to the non-GM mosquitoes that have interbred with them? And more importantly, what will happen to other organisms that are infected with the ‘kill-switch’ technology inadvertently?
“We could do a lot of good by being able to engineer an insect, for example, that goes out into the wild and has some disruptive capability over a disease, but we want to be able to control that, and that’s really difficult as soon as you go into a real setting.”[Emphasis added]
The video is glorifying, but I think you’ll be able to understand how this could be a serious risk.
In laboratory tests, scientists encoded GMO bacteria with this “kill switch” and they died within fifteen minutes of encountering the substance designed to trigger it, a sugar molecule called arabinose.
The findings of professor Voigt’s team, published in the journal Nature Communications just weeks ago, have already attracted national attention. Hopefully it is alarm, and not simply egoistic excitement that this discovery is creating.
Let us know what you think about this.
or breed them to eat plastic or fleas and ticks or POLITICIANS and dr.’s and lawyers and media shills oh and last but certainly not least COPS bankers yuppies soldiers meathead sporto’s and the zealots Shangrafckinla
This is as dangerous as the klebsiella planticola that was engineered to decompose plant material into alcohol faster. Turns out it is also around every living plant root. Just a couple weeks before release they tested it on some pants and it killed them all with the higher alcohol content. This release could have killed all terrestrial plants, the entire planet food Web . these are the most dangerous people in the world and they have no clue what they are doing and the unintended risks are far too great compared to the minimal rewards they offer. All large scale biotechnology needs to be banned immediately until full safety evaluations are completed. Just for everyone’s info there are No safety studies on these things for the lastb20 years. All independent animal feeding studies, just a handful exist, and every single one shows huge problems and sterilization by the third generation. We do not have three generations to wait, Monsanto and the others need to be banned on planet earth now!
can we put a GMO kill-switch in politicians DNA? I see no downside in that application.
Worry NOT…..their plan is to kill 90% of the population…just be sure you’re not part of the 90%. Pick Jesus !
OMG it just never ends.
And what is with those who benefit from the great nr of insects? We do not like to get sick from mosquito bites, but many animals like the bloom. They feed there kids with it. Less insects , many die or even get extinct. And in the end the humans always will suffer.
It would seem to be simpler to radiate the batches of mosquitoes, and make them sterile, before releasing them. This will eradicate the blood sucking mosquitoes altogether, since there will be no offspring.
This won’t make the drug companies any money with their drugs and vaccines, so maybe these are the ones that need to be radiated too.
I’m sure the people who live in these areas of the world, would love to see the mosquitoes gone forever.
Malaria is the number one killer in the world, according to the (WHO), World Health Organization.