When I started working with Sophia on the Mosquito project I had misconceptions about the process of creating a transgenic organism. While my misunderstandings where small, I know that it is easy for many people to be confused about the process of changing, modifying and creating with DNA technology. If you google “GMO” then you will get many images of fruit and syringes inserting some mysterious chemical into the food, along with pictures of evil scientists and outlaw GMO slogans. This skewed perspective of genetically modified organisms has lead many teachers and scientists to use different terminology even in conversations because of the negative implications of the “GMO”.
A couple of weeks ago, a Reddit thread was posted about the January news that Oxitec release of GM Mosquitoes in the Florida Keys. Since I have been working closely with the project and had already talked to Sophia about the ethics of the mosquito releases, and this news specifically, I decided to read through all of the Reddit posts just to see the opinions of the general public on this issue.
As I read through the posts, It was as you might expect from an open forum discussion on a genetically engineered organism, yet it was interesting to hear so many differing opinions. One comment stated “Good. Mosquitoes are just flying dirty needles. I hope the whole species dies out.” while another person took a different side, stating in response “This seems like a bad idea. Mosquitoes suck, but surely they play an important role in the ecosystem.
As I read through the thread (over 1400 comments were posted in less than 24 hours!) I was able to see that many people were lacking some understanding or had some kind of misconception about these genetically modified organisms.
Despite the misconceptions, all of the participants in the discussion were being active in sharing their thoughts. Working with this project and talking through the ethical implications has really helped me to think through many of these tough issues. For my students, I hope that by creating a space for open dialog and a space to learn more about genetic engineering, we can start to have these discussions in my classroom.
Click the links below to learn more about the Oxitec Mosquito release discussion:
Glad it’s been an educational experience. I’m enjoying reading about it!