"Okay, boys, here's what we do. We've got this old virus
called Zika. It's been around for 60 years that we know of. It never
caused anything serious. A real dud. But we've got to explain all
these babies born with small heads and brain damage. We've got to
protect some important people and shield them from heavy blame. So
let's bring back Zika. Even though very few mothers who give birth to
babies with defects have the dud-virus, we can finesse that. People are
idiots. So let's build up Zika into a terrifying killer. Get our PR
folks moving. Spread some money around. You know, the usual. And we
make out on the back-end with a Zika vaccine."
This is the third article in my series on the Zika Freakout. In my
previous piece, I listed six top candidates for causing smaller heads
and brain damage in Brazilian babies.
None of those candidates is the Zika virus, which has a history of
creating only minor illness, at worst. My top six may, indeed, be
working together to bring about disastrous consequences.
In this article, I'll focus on one candidate, the genetically-engineered
(GE) mosquitoes which have already been released in Brazil, with the
aim of decimating the population of mosquitoes that carry dengue fever,
Zika, yellow fever, and chikungunya.
First of all, and ominously, the GE mosquitoes were released in the same
area of Brazil (Juazeiro) where now most of the birth defects are being
reported. This is called a clue. But who is deeply investigating it?
No one in official circles.
This is akin to saying, "Well, we just toured the war-torn city. Of
course, last week we bombed it, but that couldn't possibly account for
the destruction."
The company releasing the GE mosquitoes, Oxitec, has grants for their experiments from Bill Gates---never a good sign.
Oxitec is owned by Intrexon, which is owned by billionaire Randal J Kirk. The Hoovers profile of Intrexon, offers this:
"One man's frankenfood is another man's solution to world hunger.
Intrexon is developing technology that uses synthetic biology, or
biological engineering, to make advances in everything from
pharmaceuticals to genetically modified plants and animals. The company
has development agreements with AquaBounty (genetically modified
salmon..."
Genetically modified animals. Just what we need. What could go wrong?
And the highly controversial GE salmon is under attack for the usual
reason: the omission of actual science that proves this fish is safe for
consumption and won't wreak havoc in the aqua-environment.
Intrexon employs the famous Dr. Sam Broder as its Senior Vice-President,
Health Sector. For six years, Broder was the Director of the US
National Cancer Institute. He was instrumental in bringing the AIDS
drug, AZT, to market. This previously failed chemotherapy drug was
taken off the shelf and subjected to a scandal-ridden clinical trial,
which resulted in FDA approval. AZT is
extremely toxic. It
prevents human cells from replicating. It suppresses the immune
system---the very system AIDS is supposed to be attacking. Other than
that, no problem.
On November 28, 2011, Intrexon Chairman Randal Kirk welcomed two new
executives to the company's board of directors: Robert B. Shapiro and
Jeffrey B. Kindler. Shapiro was the former CEO of Monsanto and
NutraSweet (aspartame). Kindler was the former CEO of drug giant Pfizer
and Executive VP and General Counsel of McDonald's. If those boys
don't inspire trust, who could? Cancer-causing Roundup, brain-attacking
aspartame, Bextra ($2.3 billion fine paid out), and
check-your-colon-at-the-door Big Macs. If they release a
genetically-engineered mosquito, you know it's safe---and delicious,
too.
Intrexon's GE male-mosquito "triumph" is based on the following: the
male will mate with female mosquitoes that carry Zika; the females will
give birth, but their offspring won't advance past the larval stage.
Thus, the Zika-carrying insect population will decline drastically.
However, no long-term safety studies have been done. This is a grand
insect and human experiment.
"Let's try it and see what happens. What possible problems could
develop? How could a genetically-engineered mosquito possibly affect
humans in an adverse way? Nonsense. Everything's fine."
Is it? In her excellent Activist Post article (1/28),
"Zika Outbreak Epicenter...",
Claire Bernish probes deeper into the "science." She uncovers a
little-known antibiotic connection and rips a gaping hole in the bland
assurance that all is well. I strongly recommend reading her piece.
I'll cobble together an excerpt:
"Those genetically-modified mosquitoes work to control wild, potentially
disease-carrying populations in a very specific manner. Only the male
[GE] modified Aedes mosquitoes are supposed to be released into the wild
- as they will mate with their unaltered female counterparts. Once
offspring are produced, the [GE] modified, scientific facet is supposed
to 'kick in' and kill that larvae before it reaches breeding age - if
tetracycline [antibiotic] is
not present during [the larvae's] development. But there is a problem." (emphasis added)
"According to an unclassified document from the Trade and Agriculture
Directorate Committee for Agriculture dated February 2015, Brazil is the
third largest in 'global antimicrobial consumption in food animal
production' - meaning, Brazil is third in the world for its use of
tetracycline [antibiotics] in its food animals. As a study by the
American Society of Agronomy, et. al., explained, 'It is estimated that
approximately 75% of antibiotics are not absorbed by animals and are
excreted in waste.' One of the antibiotics (or antimicrobials)
specifically named in that report for its environmental persistence is
tetracycline."
"In fact, as a confidential internal Oxitec document divulged in 2012,
that survival rate [of offspring] could be as high as 15% - even with
low levels of tetracycline present. 'Even small amounts of tetracycline
can repress' the engineered lethality. Indeed, that 15% survival rate
was described by Oxitec..."
The bottom line? The excreted tetracycline-laden waste of farm animals
makes it way to the mosquito breeding grounds. The GE male mosquito
mates with the female, and far more offspring survive than were planned
-- because the offspring, in their larvae stage, are feeding on
tetracycline-tainted food and water. What qualities do these survivors
carry?
They are the children of a natural insect and a GE insect. They bite humans. They are unknowns.
In the history of the planet, they've never existed before.
Of course, we're told there is no problem. We're told that scientists
have everything under control. If you buy that on face value, I have
condos for sale on Jupiter.
And again, there is this nagging factor: the surge in horrendous
birth defects in Brazil is happening in the same area where the GE
mosquitoes were released, and thus where some of their natural-GE-hybrid
offspring may have survived.
Don't worry, be happy. They're just tinkering with genes. They didn't
need to do safety studies. They have a theory. The theory must be
correct. And it's only mosquitoes, after all. Little things. They
bite a person's neck, the person swats them with his hand. End of
story.
Unless it isn't.
Thank you, Oxitec. Thank you, Bill Gates. Thank you, Intrexon. Thank you, Randal Kirk. Thank you, Sam Broder.
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