Florida County Votes to Allow Controversial GMO Mosquito Test

A Florida county has cleared the way for the first U.S. test using genetically modified mosquitoes to fight against the species that spreads Zika virus.  Monroe County, Florida, voted to allow a test of GMO mosquitoes created by the British biotech company Oxitec. Oxitec has created genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, adding genes to the same insects that transmit Zika virus. The GMO variety passes on genetic traits to their offspring that cause them to die in the wild, dramatically reducing the overall population of the mosquitoes. They have conducted tests in the Cayman Islands, Panama and Brazil and have wanted to do a test run in the U.S. since 2010.