The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved genetically modified mosquitoes as part of a trial to control the Zika outbreak in the Florida Keys.
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Congress could decide within weeks to grant an emergency licence to British biotech company Oxitec, which has engineered a line of insects whose offspring are unable to grow to adulthood, and so cannot reproduce.
The number of Zika cases spread by mosquitos in the US rose to 14 earlier this week.
Oxitec claims that they have reduced mosquito populations during trials in Brazil, Panama, and the Cayman Islands, by up to 90%. “Oxitec has produced a genetically engineered line of the mosquito Aedes aegyptiwith the intent of suppressing the population of that mosquito at the release sites”. Signs that read “No Consent” have sprouted across many lawns. It is also up to the company and the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District to decide when to start the field trial. Critics of the study worry it could be risky, because no one knows what will happen when the mosquitoes are released into the wild.
As of July 29, 2016, ODH reports 28 lab-confirmed cases of Zika virus (27 vector-borne transmissions during travel to an area with active Zika virus transmission and 1 through sexual contact with a person that traveled to an area with active Zika virus transmission).
The United States has taken another step toward clearing the way for a trial of genetically modified mosquitoes in Florida as a way of reducing populations of mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus.
Mutant mosquitoes created to wipe out skeeters carrying the Zika virus were approved by federal officials Friday, according to reports.
“We are convinced that our solution is both highly effective and has sound environmental credentials”, Parry added. While there are some who are anxious about genetically modifying insects, many are also anxious about the spread of the Zika virus.
Pregnant women are most at-risk for contracting the virus, as Zika is known to cause microcephaly, a condition that causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads.
In March, the FDA issued a preliminary finding that concluded the trial would have no significant negative impact on human health or the environment.
“Everywhere else where we’ve done this there’s been 90 percent or better control of the population”.
“I would vote to move forward” before the referendum, Goodman said.
Health officials in Florida have begun aerial spraying to kill mosquitoes in hopes of halting the spread of Zika in the state.
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Oxitec has been working for some time now to finally launch a trial, testing the effectiveness of its GMO mosquitos in fighting diseases that include Zika, dengue, chikungunya, and Yellow Fever.
