Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes to be released in the USA
Genetically engineered mosquitoes are SAFE, say FDA experts - raising hopes of a new way to fight Zika
Researchers hope to release genetically modified mosquitoes to stop Zika
The mosquitoes have been engineered to stop them from reproducing
This would stop transmission of the virus, which is passed by the bugs
And now, the FDA has deemed the release of the mosquitoes as safe
FDA found the bugs won't be harmful to people or the environment
The tests were conducted in Florida, which may soon have a Zika outbreak
The bugs' developer Oxitec hopes to release them in Florida this year
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Genetically engineered mosquitoes used to stop the transmission of the Zika virus have been deemed safe by US health regulators.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that the self-limiting strain of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, developed by British biotech firm Oxitec Inc., will not have a significant impact on the environment.
The male mosquitoes have been engineered so that their offspring will die before adulthood - and before they can reproduce.
The FDA's preliminary investigation, conducted in the Florida Keys region, potentially paves the way for the technique to be used in the US.
The results come just one month after Florida declared a public health emergency last month over rising concern over the Zika virus in the US.
The FDA found that releasing genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes - used to stop the spread of the Zika virus - would not have any harmful effects on people or the environment in Florida. The mosquitoes are known to be transmitting the disease in Latin America and the Caribbean, and there is rising concern that the disease may soon spread to the US, particularly Florida
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An outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika Virus has ravaged Latin America and the Caribbean in recent months.
The virus has also been linked to a surge of birth defects in Brazil, including microcephaly - in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and malformed brains.
Zika is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes - and because Florida has a warm climate and nearly year-long mosquito season, the virus is at risk of spreading in the state.
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Oxitec chief executive officer Haydn Parry told Reuters: 'If we do get permission from the FDA to go ahead, we are hoping that we will start running the program sometime in 2016.'
Under Oxitec's technique, Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are modified with synthetic DNA to produce offspring that won't survive outside of a lab setting.
Modified females are then separated in the lab from the modified males - which do not bite and are released to mate with with females.
Trials in Brazil, Panama and the Cayman Islands found that this approach helped reduce the Aedes aegypti population by more than 90 per cent, according to Oxitec
Why can't we just leave nature alone?