The Florida Keys are one step closer to getting genetically modified mosquitoes

An international biotech company is one step closer to being able to release genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services this week granted Oxitec an experimental use permit to release potentially millions of lab-made male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes throughout Monroe County.

The goal is to wipe out the Keys population of the invasive bugs, which carry diseases like dengue fever, Zika and yellow fever. The Florida Department of Health reported a case of dengue fever in the Keys in March.

The experiment was green-lighted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in May.

The next hurdle is local approval from the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District.

Chad Huff, spokesman for the district, said mosquito control’s five-member board of commissioners has scheduled a June 23 virtual “educational workshop” with Oxitec to get questions answered about the experiment.

Oxitec, which was founded in the United Kingdom, has been trying to release its mosquitoes in the Keys for more than five years. The proposal has been met with a healthy mix of support and protest.

Already this week, local and international environmental groups released statements opposing the experiment.

“People here in Florida do not consent to the [genetically engineered] mosquitoes or to being human experiments,” Barry Wray, executive director of the Florida Keys Environmental Coalition, said in a prepared statement. We are demanding sound science, not marketing hype. It is critical to prioritize the less risk, more environmentally sustainable, lower cost and natural alternatives.”

Jaydee Hanson, policy director for the International Center for Technology Assessment and Center for Food Safety, faulted the EPA for signing off on the proposal without enough analysis for the environmental risks.

“With all the urgent crises facing our nation — the COVID-19 pandemic, racial injustice, climate change — the administration has used tax dollars and government resources for a Jurassic Park experiment,” Hanson said in a statement.

But Meredith Fensom, head of Global Public Affairs for Oxitec, argued that the process is safe and good for the environment. She says it has been assessed by the EPA and the state agricultural department, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state Department of Environmental Protection.

“Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are invasive. This returns the environment to its natural state,” Fensom said Thursday.

Here’s how the process is designed to work, according to Oxitec. The lab-grown males will be released into an area heavy with local Aedes aegypti bugs. The males are engineered to mate, but they are incapable of breeding.

Eventually, this will eliminate or significantly reduce the Aedes aegypti population in the Keys.

There is a difference in the latest proposal, however. The new modified mosquitoes, which Oxitec has trademarked “Friendly Mosquitoes,” would be released in egg form. The previous proposal, and Oxitec experiments in other countries like Brazil and the Cayman Islands, released adult bugs into the population.

Fensom said the new way ensures only males are released. Only female mosquitoes bite people. With the previous technology, a small amount of females got mixed in with the batch.

As many as 1,000 eggs can fit into one capsule. The capsules are packed into boxes and water is added. In a week, the mosquitoes are born and release themselves, Fensom said.

It’s not yet clear how many of the mosquitoes would be released and in what areas of the Keys. Fensom said Oxitec would consult with the mosquito control district to make that decision.

“Where are the populations? How many? That has a direct impact on the number of mosquitoes we are going to release,” Fensom said.

Huff said it’s not clear when the mosquito control commissioners will discuss approval of the proposal. Along with their conference with Oxitec, they are in the process of organizing a public conference for residents to ask the company about the program.

The date for that conference has not been set, Huff said.

The experiment, if approved by the district, will be paid for by Oxitec, Fensom said. Based on the success or failure of the program, Fensom said Oxitec plans on selling the technology in the U.S. and abroad.