An experiment with genetically-modified, sterile mosquitoes on Blacktip Island has inadvertently increased the mosquito population on the small Caribbean island. (photo courtesy of Alvesgaspar)
A plan to release a genetically-modified, non-biting species of mosquito, aimed at decreasing Blacktip Island’s mosquito population has instead drastically increased the population, island authorities announced this week.
“The idea was for our modified, sterile, mango-eating mosquitoes to interbreed with the non-sterile extant mosquitoes to drive down that population,” Mosquito Control Unit chief Dusty Bottoms said. “Something went wrong, though, and it turns out when the two species breed, they create new, super-aggressive bloodthirsty mosquitoes.
“The problem was made worse by the efforts we made to help people differentiate between the good and bad mosquitoes,” Bottoms said. “Basically, part of the genetic modification process was to add a bit of firefly DNA to the mix to show the flashing mosquitoes weren’t harmful. But instead of flashing mossies meaning safety, they’re like tiny biological tracer rounds coming at you from everywhere.”
Island residents were outraged by the project.
“These new mosquitoes are an absolute terror,” Leigh Shore said. “They’re aggressive and hungry for blood. And there’s more and more of them every day. And near as I can tell, they like bug spray. They’ll swarm into clouds of it.
“Dusty and them need to be horse-whipped for creating these little monsters,” Shore said. “You can’t go outside anymore. And at night, mosquito netting helps, but all the flashing still keeps you awake. The only positive about ‘em is you can see ‘em coming and whack ‘em with a flyswatter.”
Others took an I-told-you-so approach.
“Doesn’t anyone read, or watch. science fiction anymore?” Belinda Graysby said. “This is basic ‘never do that’ stuff. Experiments like this never work out as planned, and almost always create a greater problem. It’s straight-up the old ‘who’s scarier, the monster or the person who created it?’ scenario.”
The island’s Mosquito Control Unit is attacking the new threat with all available resources.
“We got both our people out there with cans of bug spray, working 12-hour, alternating shifts so wo can attack the mosquitoes day and night, 24-7,” Bottoms said. “Problem is, these new ones are attracted to insecticide. And pissed off by it. We’re working up new sprays to put a dent in their numbers. So far a mix of Windex and iguana urine’s showed promising results.”
Island officials are taking extreme steps to protect visitors.
“We’re urging everyone to stay in their rooms, and we’ve wrapped all island bar areas with netting,” de-facto island mayor Jack Cobia said. “We also built tunnels to get folks out to the dive boats, since the skeeters won’t go more than 20 yards or so offshore. Long, term, we may have to lodge guests on the boats the whole time they’re here. Create mini-liveaboards, if you will. In the meantime, the flashing lights are quite popular with our guests.”
The Blacktip Times 