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
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