The mosquito genocide is beginning. Millions of genetically modified versions of the useless vampire insects are being prepared for release in Brazil. If all goes according to plan, the mosquitoes will have a huge sex party and begin to kill off all of their natural counterparts.
蚊虫大灭绝就要开始了。巴西正准备释放数百万转基因版本的无用吸血昆虫。如果一切按照计划来进行，那么这些蚊虫将举行巨大的性派对并开始杀死它们所有的自然同伴。
The world's "first and biggest factory" for genetically modified mosquitos is in Piracicaba, Brazil. Its owner, Oxitec, is manufacturing male mosquitos that die quickly after they mate and pass on a
genetic defect that causes any offspring to kick the bucket as well. In a country that has been hit hard by the Zika virus and dengue, this could be a game-changing, life-saving effort.
The firm has conducted five field tests between 2011 and 2014 -- the results showed a 90 percent decline in the population of wild Aedes aegypti after the horny, modded male mosquitos had time to get it on with unsuspecting female mosquitos.
The factory can produce 60 million mosquitos a week and plans to release 10 million of them in Piracicaba the first week that it has approval. In a town with a population of 360,000, that's a little over 27 mosquitos per person.
It's truly unknown what kind of broader effect the
systematic extinction of mosquitos would have on the eco-system. The little pests are generally believed to have no broader purpose than to survive and spread disease. But without long-term impact studies, it's difficult to say whether or not the destruction of mosquito species would come without consequence.
That doesn't seem to bother the researchers at Oxitec. "There are three essential factors for the transmission of these diseases: the mosquitoes, the virus and humans," Oxitec biologist Karla Tepedino said. "What we do here is eliminate the mosquitoes, which transmit the virus."
She concluded, "Eliminating the vector, we eliminate the disease."
相关单词：genetically
genetically解释：adv.遗传上
genetically例句：
All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物
相关单词：genetic
genetic解释：adj.遗传的，遗传学的
genetic例句：
It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。
相关单词：vampire
vampire解释：n.吸血鬼
vampire例句：
It wasn't a wife waiting there for him but a blood sucking vampire!家里的不是个老婆，而是个吸人血的妖精！
Children were afraid to go to sleep at night because of the many legends of vampire.由于听过许多有关吸血鬼的传说，孩子们晚上不敢去睡觉。
相关单词：systematic
systematic解释：adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的
systematic例句：
The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。
相关单词：extinction
extinction解释：n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种
extinction例句：
The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。
