Oxitec hopes to demonstrate through field trials that their latest GM mosquito strain can reduce local populations of Aedes aegypti — the mosquito species that transmits dengue fever, yellow fever, chikungunya, and the Zika virus.
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EPA approval of the release of this new GM mosquito is just the first step toward Oxitec selling its proprietary mosquito to US mosquito-control boards, and by extension US taxpayers. Oxitec intends to deploy its GM mosquitoes in and around the Florida Keys and near Houston.
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With our combined scientific and policy expertise, neither of us is anti-genetically modified organisms. We eat GM foods and believe that GM technologies can have significant benefits to public health — but only if they are used safely and fairly. The environmental introduction of the first GM mosquito in the United States is a landmark decision. Its public health, ecosystem, and societal risks and benefits should be carefully weighed.
[Editor’s note: Natalie Kofler is founder of Editing Nature and an adviser for the Scientific Citizenship Initiative at Harvard Medical School. Jennifer Kuzma is a professor in the School of Public and International Affairs and co-director of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center.]
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And herein lies our concern: Risks should not be assessed behind closed doors between technology developers and EPA employees. As designed, the EPA risk assessment process privileges private entities over the American public.