Posted: May 01, 2015 7:48 AM BRT – Updated: May 01, 2015 7:48 AM BRT
By Miranda Leah
More than 100-thousand genetically modified mosquitoes were released in Brazil, in part of an effort to battle the ongoing dengue epidemic.
Oxitec, a global initiative focused on insect control, is responsible for the project in Sao Paulo.
Oxitec scientists inject the male mosquitoes with a modified gene containing a protein known as TTA.
When they produce offspring with the dengue-carrying female, the next generation will die before reaching adult phase.
It claims this method is capable of suppressing the mosquito population in the area by 90-percent.
Oxitec’s leader of field operations says similar results were seen in the Cayman Islands in 2009, and most recently in Panama.
Uma (in)certa antropologia 