GM mosquito critics brand Key Haven trial as “human rights” issue

For the last five years, the biotechnology company Oxitec has been developing a plan to experimentally release the GMO mosquitoes in the Keys, which scientists hope could eventually impede the spread of the Zika virus.

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But the prospect of ridding the neighborhood of a disease-carrying pest hasn’t quelled public dissatisfaction.

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“Why are you pushing [sic] down our throats?” asked Mila de Mier, [who] has led the charge against the mosquitoes’ release…

[T]he experiment…hinges on the fundamental question proposed by opponents: do the people who live where an experiment is to be conducted have a right to decide whether to go forward?

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[Chairman] Phil Goodman views this sort of opposition as an uninformed electorate standing in the way of science.

“We’re in the public health business, not the public opinion business,” he said. The board, he believes, “will make a better decision than the majority of uninformed people.”

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“Opening this Pandora’s box, sometimes you don’t see the impact until five, 10, 15 years down the road,” De Mier said.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Zika virus: Floridians fear ‘Pandora’s box’ of genetically altered mosquitos