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Genetically modified mosquitoes could be released in Florida to block the spread of the Zika virus after the FDA confirmed they would cause "no significant threat to the environment".

The OX513A mosquito -- or Aedes aegypti -- is modified by British bioengineering company Oxitec, and has been approved following evaluation by the FDA on potential health and environmental impacts.


According to Oxitec, OX513A is intended to "suppress the population of that mosquito" at the release site in order to stop the transmission of diseases such as Zika, dengue and yellow fever.

The genetic modification does this by transmitting lethal genes to its offspring, which subsequently die before reaching adulthood. It has already been trialled in Brazil, Panama and the Cayman Islands, and Oxitec claims that these trials reduced the Aedes aegypti population by more than 90 percent.

Similar mosquitoes have been modified to halt the spread of malaria.

The FDA said in a statement that the mosquitos "do not bite humans or other animals", and are therefore "not expected to have any direct impacts on human or animal health". "The Aedes aegypti mosquito represents a significant threat to human health," said Hadyn Parry, chief executive of Oxitec, in a statement. "In many countries it's been spreading Zika, dengue and chikungunya viruses." "The mosquito is non-native to the US and difficult to control, with the best available methods only able to reduce the population by up to 50 percent, which is simply not enough," Parry continued. "We look forward to this proposed trial and the potential to protect people from Aedes aegypti and the diseases it spreads."

The FDA will need to make a further decision before the mosquitoes are released into the environment, and will be consulting the public for thirty days before final approval.