Genetically modified mosquitoes that could help to fight the spread of the Zika virus may soon be released in a Florida community following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s final assessment showing that a field test of the insects would have “no significant impact” on the environment. (The approval was pending the outcome of public comment.) Now, the FDA has released a new environmental assessment that concluded that using the genetically engineered mosquitoes would “not have significant impacts on the environment”.
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Florida began aerial spraying on Thursday to kill mosquitoes in a Miami neighborhood with the first USA spread of the Zika virus.
The FDA decision released Friday means that Oxitec, the British biotechnology company that produces the GMO mosquitoes, is one step closer to releasing them for a field test in the small community of Key Haven, Florida.
In addition to Zika, Aedes aegypti is a vector for many diseases, including yellow fever virus, dengue virus and chikungunya virus. Oxitec releases genetically engineered male mosquitoes – which don’t bite – into the wild to mate with wild female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, they breed, and the offspring die before reaching adulthood. Residents of Key West will now vote in a referendum in November to determine whether the trial goes ahead.
And residents of Key Haven, an affluent suburb of Key West, have stormed city hall and lined their yards with signs refusing to participate in the trial.
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The fate of what could be the first test in the United States of mosquito control using genetically modified mosquitoes now rests with the voters of Key West.
