What do mosquitoes and relatives have in common? They both share your blood. Did you see the swarms of those little suckers out this week? They were relentless. In all my years, I have never seen them this bad. Did you know that a US biotech firm, Oxitec, has released male genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys with an intention to suppress the wild mosquito populations? These mosquitoes are engineered to carry a lethal gene, and when the modified pests mate with wild female mosquitoes, the lethal gene gets passed on. Only female mosquitoes bite people (male mosquitoes exclusively drink nectar). Oh brother! If only mosquitoes would drink fat instead of blood, I wouldn’t complain so much.
