What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Biotech Company Asks for Permit to Release GMO Bugs

Biotechnology company Oxetec has applied for permission to carry out a GM insect trial in Spain.

The aim of the trial is to reduce an olive tree pest by releasing male flies with a ‘female killing gene’ inserted into them. Providing the GM bugs outbreed the natural bugs the population of the pest would be reduced.

This is not the only trial Oxetec is involved in. They, along with other companies, have released genetically modified mosquitoes in an attempt to reduce the mosquito population in the country.

Helen Wallace from Genewatch, the organization that monitors genetic modification technology, had this to say:

“We also don’t think it’s a very effective technology, these flies are not sterile. They will produce offspring and those female offspring are programmed to die at the larval stage, which means there will be lots of GM maggots in these olives.”

http://www.thedailysheeple.com/company-applies-for-a-permit-to-use-gm-insects_112013

Wiki: Genetic engineering

Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct manipulation of an organism's genome using biotechnology. (Indirect genetic modification through artificial selection has been practiced for centuries.) New DNA may be inserted in the host genome by first isolating and copying the genetic material of interest using molecular cloning methods to generate a DNA sequence, or by synthesizing the DNA, and then inserting this construct into the host organism. Genes may be removed, or "knocked out", using a nuclease. Gene targeting is a different technique that uses homologous recombination to change an endogenous gene, and can be used to delete a gene, remove exons, add a gene, or introduce point mutations.

An organism that is generated through genetic engineering is considered to be a genetically modified organism (GMO). The first GMOs were bacteria in 1973; GM mice were generated in 1974. Insulin-producing bacteria were commercialized in 1982 and genetically modified food has been sold since 1994. Glofish, the first GMO designed as a pet, was first sold in the United States December in 2003.[1]

Genetic engineering techniques have been applied in numerous fields including research, agriculture, industrial biotechnology, and medicine. Enzymes used in laundry detergent and medicines such as insulin and human growth hormone are now manufactured in GM cells, experimental GM cell lines and GM animals such as mice or zebrafish are being used for research purposes, and genetically modified cropshave been commercialized...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified