

96% suppression of the dengue mosquito in Brazilian trial - Inversechi
http://www.oxitec.com/oxitec-newsletter-june-2013/

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contingencies
They were allowed to release something like this _in the wild_? This is like
playing god. If you kill all the mosquitos, nature cannot recover. They may be
pests for us, but they are still a critical part of the biosphere. The true
impact of this activity will not be felt for some time. It harks back to Mao's
devastation of the birds.

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gus_massa
They are probabbly targeting _Aedes aegypt_. It's original location in Africa,
so if they can eradicate it from Brazil they will restore the natural balance.

~~~
contingencies
_Moscamed announced that they had achieved a 96% reduction of the adult
mosquito population in the target area._

That sounds like all mosquitoes to me.

~~~
gus_massa
A few lines below that line, a more complete quote appears:

 _> The effect on the local population of the _dengue vector* was dramatic:
analysis of eggs laid in specially designed ‘ovitraps’ showed that the number
of viable ‘wild-type’ eggs laid in the trial areas was reduced by 91-95%,
while adult trapping showed a reduction in the local adult population of an
estimated 96%.*

They are releasing OX513A ( [http://www.oxitec.com/health/our-products/aedes-
agypti-ox513...](http://www.oxitec.com/health/our-products/aedes-agypti-
ox513a/) ). It's a variant of Aedes aegypti, so it mates only with Aedes
aegypti and only that type of mosquitoes is affected. The first assertion is
misleading, but it's only a simplification / edition error / marketing hype.

