Zika Virus Essay

The Zika virus has been calamitous outbreak which effects had reached all corners of the world. The Zika virus is transmitted by a species of mosquitoes named Aedes aegypti that are vectors, organisms that transfer diseases from one organism to another. The disease has created mass hysteria as it was hypothesized for Zika causing birth defects in children when mothers contract the disease from the mosquito while pregnant. The virus’s symptoms include rash, fever, and joint pain. One proposed solution was the use of genetically modified mosquitoes to decrease the Aedes aegypti by modifying a certain gene in males to “self-destruct” through an editing technique called CRISPR-Cas9. Oxitec, the company that created this technique hopes to use this method of altering genes to eradicate this particular species, as it is the culprit that spreads the Zika virus. Genetically modified mosquitoes are the best way to combat the spread of Zika virus because it is the fastest method and has a limited ecological impact compared to other solutions. Genetically modified
mosquitoes are the best way to combat the spread of the Zika virus because it is the fastest method. Data indicates that this method is the fastest way because it kills the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes at the swiftest rate. For example, test trials show there was an 82 percent decrease in the number of mosquito larvae when the mosquitoes with the specific gene were released in Piracicaba in 2015 (Pollack, 2016). In addition, according to Harvey (2016) that Oxitec states regarding its field trials that the “GM bug has reduced Aedes aegypti populations by upwards of 90 percent…” These statistics indicate that the vector can be removed at high success rate ranging from eighty to ninety percent. The speed of the effectiveness of using genetically modified mosquitoes can be compared to other methods such as the one Dr. Soper used in Brazil that required a significant larger amount of time to kill the mosquitoes as according to Pollack (2016) “every house was thoroughly inspected and all standing water removed.” By comparing other solutions to the speed of the eradication of mosquitoes by the mosquitoes produced by Oxitec, the best current method of dealing with the Zika virus is the latter. In view of evidence that demonstrates that almost ninety percent of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were killed quickly by the use of Oxitec’s new technique compared to other solutions that require a greater amount of time to do the same, genetically modified mosquitoes are the best way to combat the spread of Zika virus because it is the fastest method.
Genetically modified mosquitoes are the best way to combat the spread of Zika virus because it is has a limited ecological impact compared to other solutions. This method only kills one species of mosquitoes and not others. The Aedes aegypti is not a native species of mosquitoes in the Americas where Zika is most rapidly spreading. As a result of the mosquitoes being an invasive species, the removal of them would cause no damage to the food web. Some scientists say it would be a form of “bioremediation” according to Suresh (2016) or in other words a method to clean up the environment through the introduction of another organism. In this case it would be the introduction of genetically modified mosquitoes to get rid of the unnecessary mosquitoes. Furthermore, past actions in the Caribbean and South America during the sixties to remove the same species had according to Suresh (2016) “no major issues with the environment.” This shows how the used of sterile mosquitoes to remove the entire species would not have such a significant impact compared to use of DDT that cause biomagnification and negatively harm all species in an environment. Based on Aedes aegypti not being native to the areas where the disease broke out and history showing there was no significant impact of their removal, genetically modified mosquitoes are the best way to combat the spread of the Zika virus because they have the least impact on the environment.
Some challengers argue that the use of insecticides like DDT is a more effective way of battling the Zika virus because it is fastest method.
These people argue to use DDT as the solution to the Zika debacle as it previously and is currently is used around to world to control the spread of dangerous diseases like malaria. The cons of using DDT outweigh the positives. The argument for the DDT is weak as research suggests that the Aedes according to Begley (2016) “evolved widespread resistance to DDT in the decades after the pesticide came into widespread use in the 1940s” Using DDT would be less effective than the use of genetically modified mosquitoes because the vectors are unaffected by the chemical that is supposed to kill them. It would take a large amount of time to kill all the mosquitoes with DDT since they resist its effect and using the Oxitec’s mosquitoes would be faster method of killing all the
vectors.
The Zika virus has been a dangerous outbreak that caused the suffering of over a million people worldwide. With many solutions being presented to combat the spread of Zika, the most effective solution would be the use of genetically modified mosquitoes. This is evidenced by it being the quickest compared to other solutions of eradicating the vector responsible for the spread. In addition, it would cause the least amount of environmental impact as it targets only the specific nonnative species responsible compared to other solution as well. In conclusion, the use of genetically modified mosquitoes would be the best method to combat the Zika virus as it is the fastest and has the least impact on the environment.