The night-walkers of Uganda

Shock of the new - GM Mosquitoes
Level 1
Elementary
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Shock of the new - GM Mosquitoes
Level 1
Elementary
north east of Australia. People have tried very 
hard to control the cane toads, but they continue 
to multiply. 
Perhaps the worst example is the snails of 
French Polynesia. First, the giant African land 
snail was taken there and they increased too 
much. Then, in 1975, the wolf snail was taken 
there to keep their numbers down. But the wolf 
snail usually ignored the African snails and ate 
the smaller native partula snails. Since then, 
72% of the partula species have gone and only 
five remain. 
But there have been successes, especially on 
the islands where new species can cause most 
damage. “It is expensive, it takes time, but it can 
be very effective,” says Farrar. For example, 
the kakapo parrot from New Zealand, which 
nests on the ground. Scientists have moved it to 
islands without rats, where it can live safely. 
So what are the lessons here for introducing 
GM-mosquitoes? Perhaps, putting a new 
mosquito with an extra gene into a place where 
there are lots of mosquitoes already is not as 
bad as introducing an entirely new species. And 
a change made by scientists may not be very 
different from something that has happened 
many times in evolution – by chance. 
Finally, though, what people think is a danger, 
will probably be more important than the real 
dangers. GM-crops had no chance in Europe 
because of ‘what-if?’ fears: in the end, scientists’ 
opinions had no effect. If public opinion in African 
countries is strongly against the GM-mosquito, 
or if people feel that they are being forced to 
use a technology that Europe doesn’t want, GM 
mosquitoes will not be used. 
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