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Zika epicenter connected to GM mosquitoes?

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jacksdad View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jacksdad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Zika epicenter connected to GM mosquitoes?
    Posted: January 28 2016 at 11:30pm
Coincidence, or...?


 (ANTIMEDIA) U.S.A. — The World Health Organization announced it will convene an Emergency Committee under International Health Regulations on Monday, February 1, concerning the Zika virus ‘explosive’ spread throughout the Americas. The virus reportedly has the potential to reach pandemic proportions — possibly around the globe. But understanding why this outbreak happened is vital to curbing it. As the WHO statement said:
“A causal relationship between Zika virus infection and birth malformations and neurological syndromes … is strongly suspected. [These links] have rapidly changed the risk profile of Zika, from a mild threat to one of alarming proportions.
“WHO is deeply concerned about this rapidly evolving situation for 4 main reasons: the possible association of infection with birth malformations and neurological syndromes; the potential for further international spread given the wide geographical distribution of the mosquito vector; the lack of population immunity in newly affected areas; and the absence of vaccines, specific treatments, and rapid diagnostic tests […]
“The level of concern is high, as is the level of uncertainty.”
Zika seemingly exploded out of nowhere. Though it was first discovered in 1947, cases only sporadically occurred throughout Africa and southern Asia. In 2007, the first case was reported in the Pacific. In 2013, a smattering of small outbreaks and individual cases were officially documented in Africa and the western Pacific. They also began showing up in the Americas. In May 2015, Brazil reported its first case of Zika virus — and the situation changed dramatically.
Brazil is now considered the epicenter of the Zika outbreak, which coincides with at least 4,000 reports of babies born with microcephaly just since October.
When examining a rapidly expanding potential pandemic, it’s necessary to leave no stone unturned so possible solutions, as well as future prevention, will be as effective as possible. In that vein, there was another significant development in 2015.
Oxitec first unveiled its large-scale, genetically-modified mosquito farm in Brazil in July 2012, with the goal of reducing “the incidence of dengue fever,” as The Disease Daily reported. Dengue fever is spread by the same Aedes mosquitoes which spread the Zika virus — and though they “cannot fly more than 400 meters,” WHO stated, “it may inadvertently be transported by humans from one place to another.” By July 2015, shortly after the GM mosquitoes were first released into the wild in Juazeiro, Brazil, Oxitec proudly announced they had “successfully controlled the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads dengue fever, chikungunya and zika virus, by reducing the target population by more than 90%.”
Though that might sound like an astounding success — and, arguably, it was — there is an alarming possibility to consider.
Nature, as one Redditor keenly pointed out, finds a way — and the effort to control dengue, zika, and other viruses, appears to have backfired dramatically.
Juazeiro, Brazil is the location where genetically-modified mosquitoes were first released into the wild.
The particular strain of Oxitec GM mosquitoes, OX513A, are genetically altered so the vast majority of their offspring will die before they mature — though Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher published concerns in a report in September 2010 that a known survival rate of 3-4 percent warranted further study before the release of the GM insects. Her concerns, which were echoed by several other scientists both at the time and since, appear to have been ignored — though they should not have been.
Those genetically-modified mosquitoes work to control wild, potentially disease-carrying populations in a very specific manner. Only the male modified Aedes mosquitoes are supposed to be released into the wild — as they will mate with their unaltered female counterparts. Once offspring are produced, the modified, scientific facet is supposed to ‘kick in’ and kill that larvae before it reaches breeding age — if tetracycline is not present during its development. But there is a problem.
According to an unclassified document from the Trade and Agriculture Directorate Committee for Agriculture dated February 2015, Brazil is the third largest in “global antimicrobial consumption in food animal production” — meaning, Brazil is third in the world for its use of tetracycline in its food animals. As a study by the American Society of Agronomy, et. al., explained, “It is estimated that approximately 75% of antibiotics are not absorbed by animals and are excreted in waste.” One of the antibiotics (or antimicrobials) specifically named in that report for its environmental persistence is tetracycline.
In fact, as a confidential internal Oxitec document divulged in 2012, that survival rate could be as high as 15% — even with low levels of tetracycline present. “Even small amounts of tetracycline can repress” the engineered lethality. Indeed, that 15% survival rate was described by Oxitec:
“After a lot of testing and comparing experimental design, it was found that [researchers] had used a cat food to feed the [OX513A] larvae and this cat food contained chicken. It is known that tetracycline is routinely used to prevent infections in chickens, especially in the cheap, mass produced, chicken used for animal food. The chicken is heat-treated before being used, but this does not remove all the tetracycline. This meant that a small amount of tetracycline was being added from the food to the larvae and repressing the [designed] lethal system.”
Even absent this tetracycline, as Steinbrecher explained, a “sub-population” of genetically-modified Aedes mosquitoes could theoretically develop and thrive, in theory, “capable of surviving and flourishing despite any further” releases of ‘pure’ GM mosquitoes which still have that gene intact. She added, “the effectiveness of the system also depends on the [genetically-designed] late onset of the lethality. If the time of onset is altered due to environmental conditions … then a 3-4% [survival rate] represents a much bigger problem…”
As the WHO stated in its press release, “conditions associated with this year’s El Nino weather pattern are expected to increase mosquito populations greatly in many areas.”
Incidentally, President Obama called for a massive research effort to develop a vaccine for the Zika virus, as one does not currently exist. Brazil has now called in 200,000 soldiers to somehow help combat the virus’ spread. Aedes mosquitoes have reportedly been spotted in the U.K. But perhaps the most ironic — or not — proposition was proffered on January 19, by the MIT Technology Review:
“An outbreak in the Western Hemisphere could give countries including the United States new reasons to try wiping out mosquitoes with genetic engineering.
“Yesterday, the Brazilian city of Piracicaba said it would expand the use of genetically modified mosquitoes …
“The GM mosquitoes were created by Oxitec, a British company recently purchased by Intrexon, a synthetic biology company based in Maryland. The company said it has released bugs in parts of Brazil and the Cayman Islands to battle dengue fever.”

http://theantimedia.org/zika-outbreak-epicenter-in-same-area-where-gm-mosquitoes-were-released-in-2015/


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"Any community that fails to prepare, with the expectation that the federal government will come to the rescue, will be tragically wrong." Michael Leavitt, HHS Secretary.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jacksdad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 28 2016 at 11:39pm
"Buy it cheap. Stack it deep"
"Any community that fails to prepare, with the expectation that the federal government will come to the rescue, will be tragically wrong." Michael Leavitt, HHS Secretary.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 29 2016 at 5:25am
Problems with Oxitec’s GM Mosquitoes:

The OX513A strain of the Aedes aegypti mosquito is genetically engineered to contain a
red fluorescent marker and the RIDL ‘conditional lethality’ trait.5 Conditional lethality
means that the mosquitoes have been engineered to be able to survive to adulthood
only in the presence of tetracycline
(an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections such
as urinary tract infections, chlamydia and acne). GM mosquitoes are bred to adulthood
in the lab in the presence of the antibiotic and males are then released into the
environment.

Before release, male and female mosquito pupae are separated mechanically. Sex
separation by size sorting is expected to result in a population containing less than 1%
females for release (less than 0.1% female if large males are also discarded)
.6 The
intention is to release only males because they do not bite and transmit disease

Open field trials in the Cayman Islands
Oxitec conducted its first open field trials of any RIDL insect in the Cayman Islands, a
British Overseas Territory. A small trial of Oxitec’s RIDL strain OX513A of Aedes aegypti
mosquito was conducted in late 2009 and a larger release from May to October 2010,
following funding from the Wellcome Trust and in collaboration with the Mosquito
Research and Control Unit of Grand Cayman (MRCU).95 These are the first releases of
GM mosquitoes anywhere in the world and have been conducted without proper public
debate, ethical oversight or parliamentary or scientific scrutiny.


The Cayman Islands does not have any biosafety laws and is not covered by either the
international Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety or the Aarhus Convention on Access to
Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in
Environmental Matters, to which the UK is a party.101 These conventions would have
required publication of and consultation on an environmental risk assessment prior to
release. Instead, the only regulatory requirements were a local permit from the Cayman
Islands Agriculture Department and a notification of transboundary movement of a GMO
(the GM mosquito eggs sent by Oxitec to Grand Cayman) under Regulation (EC)
1946/2003.102 Neither of these documents appears to have been published. The UK
Government has stated that this is a matter for the Cayman Islands.

Oxitec’s press release in November 2010
is also misleading, claiming that the GM mosquitoes are “genetically sterile” and that
females mating with sterile males “will have no offspring”.


Fails to consider the possibility that the dengue virus may evolve to become
more virulent (which is considered a lower risk with population suppression
approaches
, such as Oxitec’s, than with other GM approaches, but which is still
at an early stage of study123).

Download the full investigation here
http://www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org/pageDocuments/I5G5KXD2L3.pdf


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 29 2016 at 6:01am
Jul 8 2014 Brazil Announces Dengue Fever Emergency Mosquito in GM Trials Region

A report with information questioning the impact of the GM mosquitoes on the incidence of dengue and warning that in some circumstances the releases could make the disease worse.

Reducing the numbers of mosquitoes does not necessarily reduce the incidence of disease as the number of mosquitoes needed to transmit the disease is low. Further, the targetted mosquitoes may simply move to another area and/or a different species of mosquito (Aedes albopictus) which also transmits dengue can move into the area. Complex immune responses to the four types of dengue virus mean that a partial reduction in mosquito numbers can reduce cross-immunity to the different serotypes and increase the number of cases of the severe form of the disease, Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever, which is more likely to be fatal. Success in reducing illness in young children can also mean more delayed and serious cases of dengue. See for example: Thavara, U., Tawatsin, A., & Nagao, Y. (2014). Simulations to compare efficacies of tetravalent dengue vaccines and mosquito vector control. Epidemiology & Infection, 142(06)

http://sustainablepulse.com/2014/07/08/brazil-announces-dengue-fever-emergency-gm-mosquito-trials-region/

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 29 2016 at 6:34am
Eurosurveillance: Zika Virus Infection Complicated By Guillain-Barré Syndrome, we looked at a report that calculated a 20 fold increase in GBS after the arrival of Zika in French Polynesia.

The authors wrote:

Since the beginning of this epidemic, and as up to 8,200 cases of ZIKA infection have already been reported of a 268,000 total population, the incidence of GBS has been multiplied by 20 in French Polynesia (data not shown), raising the assumption of a potential implication of ZIKA.

Since these islands were seeing a concurrent Dengue outbreak there was speculation that co-infection by Dengue and Zika  - or sequential arboviral immune stimulation - might predispose one to more severe illness.  Adding some credence to this notion, with dengue, it is usually a person's second infection that causes severe illness, while the first infection is usually mild.

The prevailing theory is that the host’s immune system - which already has neutralizing antibodies to the first DENV infection - mistakenly identifies the second DENV infection as being the same strain. Rather than creating new neutralizing antibodies to fight the infection, it deploys its existing cross reactive, but non-neutralizing (read: ineffective) antibodies to the field of battle.

My Comments,
The Zika virus main glycoprotein epitopes have been modified and now appear dengue like and therefore anything that causes a outbreak of dengue or previous infection with dengue can lead to worsening outcome if subsequently infected  by the Zika virus (amplifying its pathogenesis) 

Sometimes called OAS or Original Antigenic Sin, this is the immunological equivalent of taking a knife to a gun fight.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Albert Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 29 2016 at 6:50am
Great read, thanks.  Almost a new bread of super-mosquito.  tweaking mother nature like that was probably a bad move.    I have a feeling that the Zika virus may continue to change as this new super-mosquito evolves and continues to breed.  

Mother nature is on the attack as it would appear. 
https://www.facebook.com/Avianflutalk
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote phyrefly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 29 2016 at 8:15am
Stupid thread. GMs do not reach adulthood. When in doubt, go back to the beginning: Zika Forest, Uganda, 1947. The link to Oxitec is the link to Marburg virus, precisely the link to Gordon Smith (Porton, UK) who studied irrigation and arboviruses in Kenya. The Kenya Marburg patient who worked in irrigation pumps is the case that links microcephaly in human females. Trumping GM mosquitoes will be in utero testing based on such things as dengue virus NS5 myristoylation. Thomas Duncan's brincidofovir is the link to myristoylation, also the link to Zika NS5.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jacksdad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 29 2016 at 8:31am
Marburg and Thomas Duncan?
"Buy it cheap. Stack it deep"
"Any community that fails to prepare, with the expectation that the federal government will come to the rescue, will be tragically wrong." Michael Leavitt, HHS Secretary.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote carbon20 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 02 2016 at 2:53am

Spread of GM mosquito conspiracy theory hurts fight against Zika

Arvind Suresh | February 1, 2016 | Genetic Literacy Project
PRINTER FRIENDLY
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Screen Shot 2016-02-01 at 7.58.07 AM

Amidst all the fear surrounding the Zika virus outbreak, there is an egregious bit of misinformation being circulated that the outbreak could somehow be the result of genetically modified mosquitoes that were being tested to control mosquito populations.

According to a report in Business Insider which was the first to refute the story, the theory of seems to have originated on the social media site Reddit (under the subcategory ‘conspiracy’). Subsequently, an article titled “GMO mosquitoes could be cause of Zika outbreak, critics say,” appeared on the website of Russia Today (a government funded news network that is known to promote conspiracy theories). A day later, theUK tabloid Daily Mail published a similar piece with the title “Are scientists to blame for Zika virus? Researchers released genetically modified mosquitos into Brazil three years ago.” Worryingly, more articles are appearing on smaller news outlets and being shared on other social media sites as well.

The idea carries no scientific weight or credibility, and such news reports also highlight the same kind of poor reporting that undermined legitimate communication efforts during the Ebola outbreak last year, threatening to move focus away from what is important—making sure that people receive the most up to date and accurate information possible.

Oxitec, the company behind the trials, are attempting to reduce the population of the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes which are the major vectors for carrying mosquito borne diseases like dengue, chikungunya and Zika by creating genetically engineering sterile males. The trials that have been conducted in the past few years have proved so successful that the city of Piracicaba recently entered into an agreement with Oxitec to expand its efforts and build a larger facility. (See this GLParticle from last week for a detailed look at how the mosquito works).

You don’t have to look too far beneath the surface to see that the recent claims of modified mosquitoes causing Zika have no merits. There is no evidence presented and the chief ‘critical’ quote is taken from a 2012 comment made by Helen Wallace, head of the anti-GMO group GeneWatch in response Oxitec’s mosquito trials conducted that year. For a thorough debunking of the claims in the Zika conspiracy theory, see this blog which breaks down several conspiracies surrounding the Zika outbreak. Lydia Ramsey of Business Insider also makes several pertinent points as to why no one should believe in it. And when she actually interviewed an expert, this is what he said:

When we chatted with Alex Perkins, a Notre Dame biological sciences professor, about the Zika mosquito conspiracy, he told us nothing could be farther from the truth.

In fact, “It could very well be the case that genetically modified mosquitos could end up being one of the most important tools that we have to combat Zika,” Perkins said. “If anything, we should potentially be looking into using these more.”

The world will always have conspiracy theorists. But my ire in this case, is not directed at them. Instead it is more at reporters and editors who think it is appropriate to publish unfounded claims with no supporting information whatsoever. The Daily Mail is not known for its quality of reporting but it is a newspaper with a very large readership, both in print and online. Mail Online, the website of the Daily Mail has over 11.4 million daily visitors, and by all measures Russia Today is widely viewed as well, given that the article has been shared close to 15,000 times on Facebook. Achieving such a large reader base comes a degree of responsibility which increases greatly during a time of crisis, when the need for information is extremely high.

The 2014 Ebola outbreak was a watershed moment for health reporting that we can look back to see how misinformation changed the outlook of the epidemic. Social media in retrospect had made things better and worse—better in that it easier to get the right word out about what people can and should do in a health emergency, but worse in that it is harder to control the spread of misinformation. As Victor Luckersonwrote in TIME during the Ebola crisis:

Trying to stem the spread of bad information online actually shares many similarities with containing a real-world virus. Infected Internet users, who may have picked up bogus info from an inaccurate media report, another person on social media or word-of-mouth, proceed to “infect” others with each false tweet or Facebook post.

….

Moments of crisis, when there’s a vacuum of accurate information, only exacerbate this. “Fear has a role,” says Emilio Ferrara, a postdoctoral fellow at Indiana University’s Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research. “If I read something that leverages my fears, my judgement would be obfuscated, and I could be more prone to spread facts that are obviously wrong under the pressure of these feelings.”

He also quoted the role of the CDC in making accurate information available, saying “Quick, accurate information disseminated as widely as possible, experts say, is the only way to combat the spread of falsities.”

We are fighting a pandemic that has health officials around the world scrambling for solutions. And we are doing so with a very limited set of tools. The Oxitec mosquitoes has proved to be safe and successful on a small scale and it will be many more years of testing and field trials before we will know whether it can be used safely and efficiently on a large scale. However, spreading misinformation about its use only serves to promote fear and could potentially delay its course – a dangerous outcome, given that this is unlikely to be the last mosquito borne epidemic we will see.

In a recent panel discussion conducted by the DC Science Writers Association about reporting during the Ebola crisis, Joel Achenbach, a reporter for the Washington Post talked about the responsibility of the journalists, saying, “our challenge at the Post was to be a good filter of the news so that we would not feed the hysteria.” We are yet again faced with a similar situation ripe for the spread of hysteria. Let’s hope we do better this time.

Arvind Suresh is a science media liaison at the Genetic Expert News Service. He is also a science communicator and a former laboratory biologist. Follow him @suresh_arvind.

Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.🖖

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 02 2016 at 7:42am
Business Insider caught spreading Propaganda Again, what are they trying to hide ?

The particular strain of Oxitec GM mosquitoes, OX513A, are genetically altered so the vast majority of their offspring will die before they mature — though Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher published concerns in a report in September 2010 that a known survival rate of 3-4 percent warranted further study before the release of the GM insects. Her concerns, which were echoed by several other scientists both at the time and since, appear to have been ignored — though they should not have been.

Lydia Ramsey of Business Insider also makes 3 pertinent points as to why no one should believe in it.

1.One step some affected areas have tried involves introducing sterile mosquitos >>> If the mosquitos are sterile why do they have a survival rate of 3-4% ?

2.Genetically modifying male mosquitoes, which in turn seek out female mosquitoes and mate with them, resulting in no offspring >>> This again is unture, before release, male and female mosquito pupae are separated mechanically. Sex separation by size sorting is expected to result in a population containing less than 1% females for release (less than 0.1% female if large males are also discarded).

3. Actually interviewed an expert Alex Perkins, a Notre Dame biological sciences professor. >>> Business Insider has not presented any facts here other than opinion of a professor who is not prepared to backup his opinion with scientific evidence to support his views.

If Business Insider is so convinced by their "pertinent points" why not interview Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher who published concerns in a report in September 2010.


THE UNBIASED FACTS AS I UNDERSTAND THEM

Once offspring are produced, the modified, scientific facet is supposed to ‘kick in’ and kill that larvae before it reaches breeding age — if tetracycline is not present during its development. But there is a problem.

According to an unclassified document from the Trade and Agriculture Directorate Committee for Agriculture dated February 2015, Brazil is the third largest in “global antimicrobial consumption in food animal production” — meaning, Brazil is third in the world for its use of tetracycline in its food animals. As a study by the American Society of Agronomy, et. al., explained, “It is estimated that approximately 75% of antibiotics are not absorbed by animals and are excreted in waste.” One of the antibiotics (or antimicrobials) specifically named in that report for its environmental persistence is tetracycline.

Titled "Fate and Transport of Antibiotic Residues and Antibiotic Resistance Genes
following Land Application of Manure Waste"

http://www.moag.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/705B62D8-B3F1-475D-91EA-E3EE6161149E/0/FateandtransportofantibioticresiduesandantibioticresistancegenesfollowinglandapplicationofmanureJEnvQual2009.pdf

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Zika virus outbreak linked to release of genetically engineered mosquitoes... disastrous unintended consequences now threaten life across the Americas




NaturalNews) GMO skeptics like myself have been warning for years of the unintended consequences of genetic pollution. Even when genetically engineered organisms are released into the world with the best of intentions, such actions can wreak havoc on the ecosystem and human civilization in ways that simply can't be foreseen by the world's most well-meaning scientists.

I specifically warned about this in 2012, listing the top 12 threats to humanity posed by out of control science. In that infographic, I designated "Level 4" hazards as "Self-replicating pollution," naming genetically engineered organisms as the vector for such threats against humanity. (In the years since, many top science figures like Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk have repeated the warnings from my list, including threats from AI.)

Now we may be seeing the first wave of the horrific destruction that can be unleashed by self-replicating genetically modified organisms. The Zika virus, now spreading with unbridled ferocity, appears to have been caused by the release of genetically engineered mosquitoes that scientists hoped would sharply reduce malaria infections.

"The Zika virus outbreak currently gripping the Americas could have been sparked by the release of genetically modified mosquitoes in 2012," reports The Mirror. "The insects were engineered by biotechnology experts to combat the spread of dengue fever and other diseases and released into the general population of Brazil in 2012... The Aedes aegypti mosquito sub-species that carries both the Zika virus and dengue was the type targeted with genetically modified mosquitoes."

But something went horribly wrong.

As pointed out in this fantastic article by AntiMedia.org, the genetic engineers running this massive open-air experiment with mosquitoes and humans failed to consider the impact of antibiotics in the environment caused by their heavy use in agricultural (animal feed) operations.

As AntiMedia reports:

Only the male modified Aedes mosquitoes are supposed to be released into the wild — as they will mate with their unaltered female counterparts. Once offspring are produced, the modified, scientific facet is supposed to ‘kick in’ and kill that larvae before it reaches breeding age — if tetracycline is not present during its development...

According to an unclassified document from the Trade and Agriculture Directorate Committee for Agriculture dated February 2015, Brazil is the third largest in “global antimicrobial consumption in food animal production” — meaning, Brazil is third in the world for its use of tetracycline in its food animals. As a study by the American Society of Agronomy, et. al., explained, “It is estimated that approximately 75% of antibiotics are not absorbed by animals and are excreted in waste.” One of the antibiotics (or antimicrobials) specifically named in that report for its environmental persistence is tetracycline.


The presence of antibiotics causes the mosquitoes that are supposed to die off to survive and reproduce. These same genetically engineered mosquitoes may then bite humans, injecting them with the Zika virus that's now causing horrific mutations in head and brain formation in children.

A whole new epidemic caused by foolish genetic engineering that alters entire ecosystems

At least 4,000 babies in Brazil have been born with microcephaly over just the last four months, and the spread of Zika virus is rapidly exploding. Here's just one photo showing the horrific deformations believed to be caused by Zika, carried by mosquitoes:



As more reports of deformed children keep appearing, the media is freaking out, the CDC is freaking out and the U.S. government is freaking out, demanding urgent calls for yet more vaccines. Alarmingly, the very same scientists who pushed for the release of the genetically engineered mosquitoes that may have caused all this are also now calling for more genetically engineered mosquitoes which they claim will solve this problem.

But the incompetence and corruption of government and science has never been more blatant: None of the testing with GMO mosquitoes took place in the presence of tetracycline or other antibiotics that are now ubiquitous in the environment due to heavy use of drugs in factory farm operations.

Mother Nature is not obedient to the hazardous science of foolish biotechnology

As with GMO crops, these GMO mosquitoes were released into the wilderness by arrogant, incompetent scientists who assume Mother Nature is going to behave the way they want. But Mother Nature doesn't take orders for biotech corporations, it turns out, and life has a way of finding pathways to survival that scientists can never seem to fathom.

This is why GMOs are such an enormous threat to human civilization, and it's why life-hating media outlets like Forbes.com and Wikipedia are so dangerous in their spewing of biotech industry propaganda (pushed by paid biotech industry shills like Henry Miller, Jon Entine, Keith Kloor and Kevin Folta). See the full list of so-called "Monsanto Mafia" members (including paid prostitute journalists like Amy Harmon and Tamar Haspel) at MonsantoMafia.com.

Here's the kind of suffering humanity is now going to increasingly witness across our world as more genetically engineered organisms destroy ecosystems and cause humans to be infected with deadly viruses:



Those who warned about threats to the ecosystem were maliciously smeared and labeled "anti-science"

Myself and many others warned the world about all this, and in return we have been maliciously and repeatedly death-threated, slandered, defamed, blackballed and labeled "anti-science." Yet now, the world is starting to see why we were the wise ones after all: We warned about this exact scenario, knowing that Mother Nature doesn't follow the desires of for-profit corporations and their foolish experiments with the ecosystem.

The Zika virus may be just the beginning. GMOs and their related chemicals are right now devastating honeybee populations, destroying soil microbiology, polluting rivers and oceans, and contaminating the food supply with cancer-causing glyphosate herbicide, a chemical that can cause cancer at parts-per-trillion concentrations.

Two years ago, the EPA quietly raised the limit of glyphosate allowable in food crops, selling out the public by doing the bidding of Monsanto and other biotech firms. The result is that eating cancer-causing poison is now considered "safe" by the EPA -- the same incompetent, corrupt government regulator that knowingly allowed the children of Flint, Michigan, to drink lead water, month after month, without warning the public.

GMOs and the EPA / FDA / USDA... a whole new kind of war on humanity

We must now come to realize that the GMO industry and its captive government regulators (EPA, USDA, FDA) are actively engaged in a war on humanity. It is no coincidence that Bill Gates, a vocal advocate of active human depopulation, is also involved in the same kind of genetically engineered mosquitoes now linked to the Zika pandemic. When the globalists consider all the various ways in which they can murder six billion people and "save the planet" from overpopulation, mosquitoes and engineered viruses become the obvious vectors for achieving that aim.

See Group of scientists gave standing ovation for plan to kill 90 percent of human population with airborne Ebola for yet another example of how "scientists" are thrilled at the idea of using viruses and airborne delivery (via mosquitoes or otherwise) to commit mass genocide against humanity. This is the kind of thing they dream about unleashing in their war against a population problem that they think will end the world if they don't drastically reduce the number of people living on our planet.

The Zika virus, in other words, might not even be an accident. If you give these scientists the most optimistic credit possible, you might say they intended for a positive outcome but didn't realize the risks of what they were doing. But a more pessimistic analysis of their actions might reasonably conclude that they're testing a bioweapon delivery system against humanity.

Only time will tell which interpretation is correct. Whatever the outcome, make no mistake that today's biotech science is incredibly foolish, and the actions of these biotech corporations are putting the very future of humanity at extreme risk. Now, it seems, humanity is beginning to witness the true cost of arrogantly playing God with nature.

http://www.naturalnews.com/052824_Zika_virus_genetically_engineered_mosquitoes_unintended_consequences.html#


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Technophobe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 02 2016 at 10:21am
Sorry Boss.  Whereas I am definitely "your gal" and JD's yessman.  I have to agree with Carbon and our Guest (sort of) here.  The GM mosquitoes being the problem makes more sense as a propaganda tool than as a scientifically plausable theory.  

By the same token, GM mosquitoes (which probably will hold the answers if this pandemic drags on chronically) could take a little while to develop and so may not be the answer to this problem (which is acute) either.


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The Oxitec Insider

Brazil is the third largest in “global antimicrobial consumption in food animal production” — meaning, Brazil is third in the world for its use of tetracycline in its food animals. As a study by the American Society of Agronomy, et. al., explained, “It is estimated that approximately 75% of antibiotics are not absorbed by animals and are excreted in waste.” One of the antibiotics (or antimicrobials) specifically named in that report for its environmental persistence is tetracycline.

In fact, as a confidential internal Oxitec document http://libcloud.s3.amazonaws.com/93/de/e/986/MosquitoDocOriginal.pdf divulged in 2012, that survival rate could be as high as 15% — even with low levels of tetracycline present. “Even small amounts of tetracycline can repress” the engineered lethality. Indeed, that 15% survival rate was described by Oxitec:

After a lot of testing and comparing experimental design, it was found that [researchers] had used a cat food to feed the [OX513A] larvae and this cat food contained chicken. It is known that tetracycline is routinely used to prevent infections in chickens, especially in the cheap, mass produced, chicken used for animal food. The chicken is heat-treated before being used, but this does not remove all the tetracycline. This meant that a small amount of tetracycline was being added from the food to the larvae and repressing the [designed] lethal system.

Even absent this tetracycline, as Steinbrecher explained, a “sub-population” of genetically-modified Aedes mosquitoes could theoretically develop and thrive, in theory, “capable of surviving and flourishing despite any further” releases of ‘pure’ GM mosquitoes which still have that gene intact. She added, “the effectiveness of the system also depends on the [genetically-designed] late onset of the lethality. If the time of onset is altered due to environmental conditions … then a 3-4% [survival rate] represents a much bigger problem.

Questions must be asked of Oxitec and their Sponsors

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We are all screwed with the use of Antibiotics in our food source, GM mosquitoes, GM grains, and all the other crap science is doing for our "good".   Best said in Jurassic Park:

" Henry Wu: We control their chromosomes. It's really not that difficult. All vertebrate embryos are inherently female anyway, they just require an extra hormone given at the right developmental stage to make them male. We simply deny them that.

Dr. Ellie Sattler: Deny them that?

Dr. Ian Malcolm: John, the kind of control you're attempting simply is... it's not possible. If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us it's that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, it expands to new territories and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously, but, uh... well, there it is.

John Hammond: [sardonically] There it is.

Henry Wu: You're implying that a group composed entirely of female animals will... breed?

Dr. Ian Malcolm: No. I'm, I'm simply saying that life, uh... finds a way."


We are and will continue to kill ourselves off we may not need a pandemic!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jacksdad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 02 2016 at 12:40pm
Not necessarily passing judgement on the use of GM mosquitoes - just pointing out that the same region where these were released is coincidentally the same place that the latest outbreak seems to have begun. Whether they're related or not remains to be seen.
However...on the subject of genetically engineering organisms to suit our needs, I have little or no faith in our ability to do it right every time. First, we're nowhere near as smart as we like to think, and second, the decisions will undoubtedly be made by those with profit in mind and not the best interests of the world at large (our friends at Monsanto, for example).
We're finding more and more genes that have multiple roles - some day we're going to discover we flicked the wrong switch while we were making something tastier, redder/greener, or more insect resistant. GMO organisms are notoriously hard to contain once they're out in the wild, and that makes playing God all the more dangerous when we're anything but God-like.


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keep seeing articles everyday now in Drudgereport that soon we'll be eating meat that's grown entirely in a test tube.  No need to farm raise animals for food any longer.

Scary!
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I fear it's worse then we can possibly imagine as  Zika attacks and breaches the immune system in a similar manner to Ebola.

BEST GUESS
I would assume at this stage the Zika(variant) probably remains in the seminal fluid of it's male victims for 9 months
as per Ebola ?
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I'll tell ya, what's most bothersome, is that we have no answers.  From sexual transmission, to neurological disorder in adults, possible asymptomatic carries, etc.... The WHO knew damn well sexual transmission was probably efficient, and it;s been downplayed.  They never mention the neuro disorder in adults.  And why are health officials in Brazil so panicked about asymptomatic cases, which implies their infectious?

Are they intentionally withholding their findings because of the Olympics and money at stake?  I mean they have one million cases to investigate in Brazil right now for answers.  And no doubt they have these answers.   If they can't make a determination out of 1 mill cases to study, we're in trouble.  Either they're flat-out inept or intentionally withholding info.   1 mill cases to look into and no answers at all? Confused
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Anyone who goes to Brazil is NUTS including the athletes.
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Now that they're coming clean about it being sexually transmitted, and soon about other bodily fluids as transmission, the Olympics will certainly ignite this thing.   Apparently the mosquito is not needed as the vector once it get's going.   People are crazy if they think that all 1 mill cases in Brazil all got this from a mosquito bite, lol.   Not likely I'm afraid.


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Wow. That's a pretty big mistake.

I wonder if it will make mainstream press or it sits in the world of conspiracy
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Technophobe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 07 2016 at 6:40am
Here is an update on the GM theory from the Independent newspaper (It is a respected broadsheet newspaper, not a comic or rag)

Zika: British team say they have a remedy for the virus


Apart from the white Renault’s slow pace, and the occasional puff of something out of its window, the Oxitec frontline vehicle looks just like any other of the vans that criss-cross Piracicaba each morning, before the town is quite awake. It follows the same route most days: crawling down the Vara do Açúcar, past the Unimep university and Delta Supermarket, until the sun is high in the sky, and all the cargo disposed of.

Then the driver – no longer carrying anything precious – hits the accelerator and turns back to a factory some 60km away. Curiously, the van doors never open. And a local not informed of what Oxitec does might be not only intrigued, but rather enraged, to see that – on closer inspection – those little puffs are formed of thousands of mosquitoes. Sitting in the back of the van, an Oxitec employee shakes pots of 1,000 mosquitoes each out into the street – via the medium of a cone and a bladeless fan – at release points signalled to him on an iPad. It is the creatures’ first breath of fresh air.

They hover for a moment, in something of a daze, before dispersing hither and thither to search for the particular sound of female wingbeats. So goes the release of the only genetically modified insects in existence: Aedes Aegypti by appearance; OX513A, as they are titled in the Oxitec catalogue.

Aedes Aegypti, in its natural form, is not only a carrier of dengue fever – which they are fighting in Piracicaba. It is also the “vector” for Zika, a virus that – like the insect itself – originated in Africa. The simplest way to stop Zika spreading is to remove its vector, and with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) announcement earlier this week that Zika constitutes a public health emergency, suggestions for how to kill Aegypti, quickly and in large numbers, have become vitally important. As with Ebola, the last public health emergency, old-fashioned methods top the pile. During the Ebola crisis, in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, people were warned not to shake hands or hug, and to burn the bodies of the dead. In Brazil, soldiers are going door to door, explaining that Aegypti can breed in even the smallest of pools, such as the dregs in a can of Coke; women have been advised not to get pregnant; and fogging machines drive up and down city streets, pumping out insecticide. 

It was in not altogether dissimilar fashion that the American epidemiologist Fred L. Soper chased a malaria-carrying mosquito out of Brazil in the 1930s (and other species in the decades that followed). Soper, though, was a rare kind of zealot, the sort of man who would have a mountain moved if it exposed a family of Anopheles Gambiae. He lost 27 pounds in three months on the job, as he climbed gutters and personally inspected homes. Also aiding the purge was the Brazilian brand of politics: the country was then under the control of Getúlio Vargas and his military junta; personal liberties came a distant second to the war on the mosquito. It is impossible, Soper was known to say, to eradicate mosquitoes in a democracy. 

That sums up the task President Dilma Rousseff and her Partido dos Trabalhadores, or Worker’s Party, face. Modern cities have grown larger and messier than they were in Soper’s day. And if an inhabitant of the Vasco de Gama neighbourhood in Zika-hit Recife would rather keep her dozen songbirds and the water bowls from which they drink (and in which Aegypti will breed), there is not a great deal the government can do. 

Perhaps the owner of the birds is no longer able to have children, so does not fear a bout of Zika, which leaves most adults completely unharmed. The risk then transfers to her neighbours. Aegytpi can fly around 200 yards. In November, an obstetrician in north-eastern Brazil, Adrianna Melo, confirmed that a surge in the number of children born with mis-shapen heads – a condition known as microcephaly – was linked to the Zika virus that had previously gone unnoticed in their mothers. The brains of these children do not develop properly, and they face severe learning difficulties, and the possibility of an early death. Some 2,100 Colombian pregnant women have been confirmed as having the Zika virus; thousands more do in Brazil, and across 20 other countries in the Americas. The Caribbean is another hot-spot, and cases of Zika have started to show up in the southern United States (and allegedly in Europe, through sexual transmission). In many Latin American nations, it is near-impossible to procure a legal abortion, so infected mothers to-be face months of wrenching panic.

“We could do it,” Hadyn Parry, the CEO of Oxitec, tells me, as we stand among the Velcro and gauze mosquito “cages” in the company’s Abingdon headquarters. “If someone said that [ridding Brazil of Aedes Aegypti] is the plan, you would get on with it… but someone has to say, ‘I’m up for it, I’ll pay for it. What help do you need?’” 

Hand-in-mosquitos-zika.jpg
Oxitec’s Hadyn Parry exposes his hand to the same strain in the Abingdon lab, to show they do not bite

Parry is unruffled by the overnight transformation of his small company, which employs 100 people between Abingdon and Brazil, into a great white hope for Zika control. Dressed in a red protective coat over a blue-and-white striped shirt, he possesses a kindly, frank manner, talking more like a retired soldier than a biotech impresario (until 2013, he was also chair of the Help for Heroes charity, and comes from a military family, “half army, half navy”). The advantage of Oxitech’s technology, he says, is that it removes the need for people to chase down straggling Aegypti, which may lurk unobserved under a plant pot outside the window, untouched by any fumigation indoors. A single breeding female can lead to chaos. If one remains in one water bowl in Vasco de Gama, it could over its month-long lifespan produce 500 more mosquitoes, which – uncontrolled – could give birth to a further 125,000 before they themselves die off, producing millions more.

“On the other hand,” Parry explains, as a press officer standing to one side attempts to pincer a mosquito that has somehow extricated itself from the cages, “if you release 100 of our males, those males are going to go anywhere, and go and find the girls, because that’s what males are very good at”. 

Oxitec produces male mosquitoes with one key difference: they have been genetically engineered so that their children do not survive into adulthood. In the 20 or so cages in the Abingdon laboratory, thousands of OX513A brand Aegypti are hovering about, or resting on a black rag hung from each cage’s ceiling. These are the breeders. Their eggs, which look like fine black dust, can be collected in Tupperware boxes and dispatched to anywhere in the world, before they are submerged in chemically treated water, and then turn into larvae. A simple sieve removes the females, too big to fit through the holes, leaving only the precious, feebler males behind. 

zika-pregnant-1.jpg
A pregnant woman is checked by a doctor at the 'Alonso Suazo' clinic in Tegucigalpa

Yesterday morning, like every morning, Guilherme Travellato and his two-man team released another 160,000 or so Oxitec males onto the streets of Piracicaba. Over the course of each week they free around 800,000. Compelled by evolution to find a mate, and by man to produce no heirs, these creatures carry out their dual role with abandon. Part of Travellato’s job is to monitor local populations. “It’s not the only tool, but it’s a really efficient one,” he says, talking over the phone from Campinas, in São Paulo state, where Oxitec’s main factory is based. 

Small-scale tests in Panama, the Cayman Islands and throughout Brazil consistently show a reduction of 90 per cent and above in the number of Aegypti – a remarkable rate. Locals gather to celebrate the van’s passage – though lately, the owner of a mini-mart in Piracicaba, Supermarket Valor, has complained that Oxitec has hurt his sales of Gatorade. (Those who contract dengue fever experience parching thirst – but with so many fewer falling sick, the demand for Gatorade’s rehydrating power has fallen away.)

It took months for the international community to rouse itself against Ebola, months that allowed the disease to spread and eventually kill around 11,000 people. Lessons appear to have been learned. The emphasis with Zika lies on being prepared to do too much, rather than risk doing too little. And yet, in some ways, the world had a head start with Ebola. Although very little attention was paid to controlling its symptoms, since the disease affects primarily poor people in poor parts of Africa, researchers in the West had nonetheless focused on it as a potential weapon in bio-warfare, and witnessed a number of smaller outbreaks since 1976.  Vaccines were produced relatively quickly. In comparison, very few epidemiologists had heard of Zika ssix months ago. A vaccine is at least a decade away. We learnt only days ago that Zika can be transferred sexually, and still have no idea whether it is the virus that causes babies to be born with smooth, unfinished brains or some other factor connected to it. 

zika.jpg
A city worker fumigates in an effort to eradicate the mosquito which transmits the Zika virus

Oxitec, at this very moment, is not in the position to be of great help. The company has yet to grow out of its own pupa. Live trials were first conducted in 2009, but its Campinas factory can only provide GM mosquitoes for an area that is home to 10,000 people. Still, another factory – capable of serving 300,000 people – is now under frantic construction. And Zika has “thrown all our plans into question”, says Parry, as we walk from the lab to another warehouse containing R&D facilities. “Should we build one new factory or 10?” It took three months to get this warehouse into an operational state. If the Brazilian government were to step in and centrally adopt Oxitec technology, rather than leaving it to local municipalities to decide, Parry estimates the country could be abuzz with OX513A Aegypti within a year. 

However, even those open to GM may find a twang of alarm hard to suppress. Conspiracies – growing in puddles of ignorance, whirring like mosquito wings – have flourished over the past week. One poster on a Reddit forum dedicated to conspiracy theories argued that Oxitec’s mosquitoes may be responsible for Zika itself, a supposition that has since been lent credence for its being republished on the websites of unscrupulous national newspapers (but loses any when you consider that the company was founded more than 50 years after Zika was first discovered).

In fact, the WHO and the Brazilian government agree that Oxitec’s technology poses no risk to people or the environment. And there is remarkable consensus across the scientific community that Oxitec is safe. “These people have spent months and years evaluating it,” Parry explains, leading the way to a changing room, where green safety smocks must be put on, and plastic bags wrapped over our shoes. “It’s a shame that a solution that could save a lot of lives is being questioned by some idiots.”

Zika-GETTY.jpg
The Zika virus has been linked with cases of microcephaly in Brazil

At the end of a sparse, windowless corridor, we enter a research lab. In one corner a young scientist is intently probing at mosquito eggs with a minuscule needle. Four pupae lie under a high-powered microscope, looking like nothing so much as tiny, gelatinous Cornish pasties, one indistinguishable from the next. I am asked to guess which were Oxitec products. Then a light goes on, a red filter is put over the lens, and the top two start to glow a startlingly iridescent red. 

Research scientist Sian Spinner explains  this is due to the second gene that Oxitec introduces into the DNA of Aegypti – one transplanted from jellyfish, serving to permanently mark out the engineered creatures. Unless it glows red like this, Oxitec had nothing to do with a mosquito. Thus, monitoring teams can gather eggs and test them to see what proportion light up; since these will not make it to adulthood, the company can measure its success. 

Still, not every citizen of Piracicaba can be shown the inside of an Oxitec laboratory, so the company ran outreach programmes for months before it started releasing mosquitoes. The key message to get across was that Oxitec’s mosquitoes are “friendly”. Employees refer to them as “our sons”, and to their stillborn children, as “our grandsons”. 

What seems to do the trick best, Travellato notes, is the cage of Oxitec mosquitoes that emloyees carry around, into which locals can put their hands and see that they are not bitten. This may not explain how the mosquitoes kill off future generations of Aegypti, but at least it shows that the GM creations will drain no human blood. I put my hand inside a replica in Abingdon. The modified Aegypti go into a flutter, attracted by the pheromones and warmth, which promise the arrival of females. One settles on my thumb, and I can feel tiny currents of air from its wings – but that’s the most of it. 

When one is not under direct threat of contracting Zika or dengue, there is more time to ponder what effect eradicating large proportions of Aedes Aegypti will have on local ecosystems. Some argue that the mosquitoes should be left in place, and efforts diverted to speeding up the search for a vaccine. But even a total wipe-out of Aegypti would, Travellato says, leave little trace on the environment. It is an invasive species, and – in cities – mainly breeds indoors, so no predator relies on it as a sole source of food. “You don’t see fish on your roof,” said Travellato, “you don’t find dragon flies in your water tank.”

If there is to be a stumbling block, it will involve money. Oxitec is a business, with shareholders. Trials so far have been run to establish that the product works; in future, local municipalities, or national governments, will have to purchase eggs from Oxitec, or pay for the establishment and running costs of their factory, where OX513A can be bred. Prices have not yet been declared, as Oxitec’s new license is pending. But the question for politicians across Latin America and the Caribbean now is: how much are you willing to pay? If the virus continues to spread, or merely takes root, as experts suggest it will, the cost in lost tourism will be large. The cost for parents is frankly unimaginable

Source:  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/zika-british-team-say-they-have-a-remedy-for-the-virus-a6859046.html

So I was wrong.  GM mosquitoes could be produced in time to make a huge difference, after all.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Technophobe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 08 2016 at 12:20pm
There is an update on this update at:   http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/zika-virus-conspiracy-theories-about-gmo-mosquitoes-and-intentional-infection-spread-as-fears-of-a6861156.html

The title reads:  

Zika virus: Conspiracy theories about GMO mosquitoes and intentional infection spread as fears of disease grow


It gives both explanations for the rumors and a timeline.
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Here is my very 1st posting on Zika dated Jan 16th 2016,

The CDC has now elevated the threat posed by the Zika virus to serious and concludes that it will now become a epidemic

I am no expert and have only just started developing a interest in Zika over that last few weeks as it now shows all the usual hallmarks of interest to me.

A cursory examination of the available evidence suggest that it's been adapted to humans by the introduction of a dengue like protein, furthermore early signs suggests it's targeting females with microcephaly during pregnancy, with my limited knowledge I have eliminated most causes of the microcephaly and it's therefore appears genetic as I believe the virus is targeting the X chromosome.

If confirmed that would be devastating to the countries affected because those entire populations would effectively be sterilized as their genetic code has permanently been altered by the virus, more disturbingly It now appears that the virus can be sexually transmitted causing the same genetic changes in the infected partner.

With the world cup approaching and mosquitoes abound this is going to go GLOBAL and we don't know who will and who won't be infected, this feels like the new AIDS plague of the 21st century.

****WARNING****
My concern is that this virus may also be doing further damage on a longer time scale and the CDC concurs going by their recent CDC Telebriefing: Zika Virus Travel Alert dated 15th Jan 2016 which can be downloaded with the link here http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/t0116-zika-virus-travel.html


Today 11th of FEB 2016


Beware the new 'Breakthrough' Transgenic Mosquitoes,

Mosquitoes engineered with a jumping gene vector to express a DNA-cutting enzyme produce >95 % male offspring; unfortunately both enzyme and vector target genomes of diverse species from slime moulds to humans

A team led by Andrea Crisanti at Imperial College London in the UK was widely reported to have made a breakthrough or even a ‘quantum leap’ in creating transgenic mosquitoes that could eradicate malaria [1].

Their fast-tracked online report in Nature Communications stated [2]:  “Here we generate a synthetic sex distortion system by exploiting the specificity of the homing endonuclease I-PpoI, which is able to selectively cleave ribosomal gene sequences of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae that are located exclusively on the mosquito’s X-chromosome. We combine structure-based protein engineering and molecular genetics to restrict the activity of the potentially toxic endonuclease to spermatogenesis. Shredding of the paternal X-chromosome prevents it from being transmitted to the next generation resulting in fully fertile mosquito strains that produce >95 % male offspring.”

It would have been the perfect solution to destroying the natural populations of mosquitoes that transmit malaria; except that the DNA-cutting enzyme is by not means “specific” to “ribosomal gene sequences located exclusively on the mosquito’s X-chromosome” as stated. On the contrary, it cuts at a target sequence in ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes - numerous copies of which are present in all eukaryote genomes – plus other sites as well, and the transgenic mosquitoes have been created using a jumping gene (transposon) vector that promiscuously invades all genomes.  It is the female mosquitoes that bite people and transmit disease; so any transgenic female mosquitoes among the offspring would inject GM DNA containing the vector and I-PpoI transgene for horizontal transfer into people’s cells to shred their genomes.

The constructs were put into the promiscuous piggyBac vectors for transgenesis. Constructs that had integrated on the X chromosome failed to show significant levels of I-PpoI expression in the testes, probably because the X chromosome is transcriptionally silent during male meiosis.

It is important to note that the sex distortion is not complete, which means that a variable number of transgenic females will be left to bite people and transmit the potentially lethal transgenes into people’s cells. Such transgenic females were found to have more female offspring when mated to wild type males. In the wild, the proportion of surviving transgenic females, and indeed, I-PpoI-resistant transgenic females could also arise. All that would make it more likely to spread the transgenes into human and other mammals.


[1] “GM mosquitoes a ‘quantum leap’ towards tackling malaria”, Adam Vaughan, The Guardian, 10 June 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/10/gm-mosquitos-malaria-genetic-modification

[2] Galizi R, Doyle LA, Menishelli M, Bernardini F, Deredec A, Burt A, Stoddard BL, Windbichler N and Crisanti A. A synthetic sex-ratio distortion system for the control of the human malaria mosquito. Nature Communications 2014, published 10 June, doi:10.1038/ncommuns4977


These are only Extracts of Comments and I have tried to fair to both parities links to the whole story are located at the bottom of my posting for the more adventurous,

Dr MaeWan Ho a scientist involved in the early negotiations on the Catagena Protocol on Biosafety, as well as a member of their roster of experts.
vs
Paulo Andrade a risk assessor for the GM mosquito in Brazil


Dr MaeWan Ho 29th June 2014
Paulo, When a mosquito bites, it constantly injects saliva into your blood to keep the blood from clotting, that's how it transmits the malaria parasite, as well as any of its cells dead or alive and nucleic acids, which will contain the GM constructs that could be taken up into your cells. This is horizontal gene transfer, the very process exploited in creating transgenic cells and organisms. You are right it is still hypothetical in the case of transgenic mosquitoes. The researchers should find out if the experimental animals (mice?) used in feeding blood to transgenic mosquitoes get transgenes transferred into them as part of risk research. But this has never been done.


Dr MaeWan Ho 30th June 2014
Paulo, When I first raised the dangers of horizontal gene transfer 10 years ago, I was indeed criticized by scientists who said horizontal gene transfer (hgt) is an extremely rare event. However, very soon, it became clear that hgt has been rampant during evolution, and can be seen to happen both in the lab and in the field. So they say it is a natural process, and no need to worry. Unfortunately, GM constructs are designed precisely to make it happen more easily, they are designed to overcome barriers and to invade genomes. I have written an entire book on the new genetics, and a series of new articles on the subject. Please start with Horizontal of GM DNA Widespread but No One is Looking, almost here: http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Horizontal_Transfer_of_GM_DNA_Widespread.php, and a paper, The New Genetics and Natural versus Artificial Genetic Modification, which is published and available on open access here: http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/11/4748

Paulo Andrade 1st July 2014
Moreover, even if the construction of this GM mosquito were transferred to a human being, it would have no influence on his (or her) metabolism and would not be transmitted to their offspring. The simple presence of a new gene (or transgene) is, per se, not a harm: it must trigger metabolic changes,

Dr Meawan Ho 1st July 2014
transgenesis is precisely designed to overcome natural barriers to horizontal gene transfer, hence, as you admit, we cannot rule out the possibility for horizontal transfer of transgenes to happen; piggBac is a very efficient gene transfer vector now used in gene therapy. Further, your assumption that the transgene itself is harmless is contradicted by the cytotoxic effects found experimentally in all the human cells tested. I am therefore not convinced by your risk assessment.


Paulo Andrade 2nd July 2014
Being one of the risk assessors for the GM mosquito in Brazil,


Dr Meawan Ho 2nd July 2014,
Paulo, on HGT, are we reading the same literature? Here is a review published in 2005, Lateral gene transfer in eukaryotes: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15761667 , in the abstract, its says: “Lateral gene transfer… has been acknowledged as a major mechanism in prokaryote genome evolution for some time. Recently accumulating data indicate that the process also occurs in the evolution of eukaryotic genomes….Transfers between eukaryotes also occur, mainly into larger phagotrophic eukaryotes that ingest eukaryotic cels, but also between plant lineages….” Insects can definitely penetrate plant cell walls, because they have sharp mouth parts. It is well-known that the eukaryote genome has many prokaryotic genes as well as Archaean genes, and a 2014 article, Horizontal gene transfer in the acquisition of novel traits by metazoans “reviews the rising evidence on horizontally transferred genes and on the acquisition of novel traits in metazoans…”: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/281/1777/20132450.full.pdf+html. Both refer to evolution, and hence under represent horizontal gene transfer in real time, which need not register in evolution, particularly if a cytotoxic effect kills the cells or organisms into which the transfer is made. On biosafety, I was actually among the scientists involved in the early negotiations on the Catagena Protocol on Biosafety, as well as a member of their roster of experts.

GRAP A SICK BUCKET FISRT and read the whole story here >>>> http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Beware_the_New_Breakthrough_Transgenic_Mosquitoes.php

MED >>>>> I can't find my TinHat do you have it Question
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Technophobe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 11 2016 at 1:57am
Stealing a gene from its cousin Dengue, I could believe natural.  Changes in the GM mosquito plan I could just about stretch to as an accident - although a very unlikely one.  Simultaneously, in the same place???  NO WAY!!!

This must be deliberate.
How do you tell if a politician is lying?
His lips or pen are moving.
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