Bill Gates-funded company released 150K genetically modified insects

A Bill and Melinda Gates-funded biotech firm has released thousands of genetically modified mosquitoes in the United States.

The biotech firm Oxitec has confirmed in a press release that the release of these genetically modified mosquitoes is for population control of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that spread diseases such as dengue and malaria. All of the genetically released mosquitoes are male, and have a self-limiting gene that causes offspring to die before they can reach adulthood and reproduce again.

Oxitec has already begun testing this type of technology in Brazil, where it saw a 95% drop in the Aedes aegypti species after just 13 weeks. Oxitec announced a collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation back in 2018, check out the press release here. In a recent press release, the company emphasized that the genetically modified mosquitoes it was releasing are unable to bite. For more information on this story, check out this link here.