‘A Jurassic Park Experiment’: Watchdog Groups Denounce Decision to Release Genetically Modified Mosquitoes in Florida

Food safety and environmental groups Wednesday condemned a decision by officials in Florida to approve the release of 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes, a pilot project aimed at reducing the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.

“With all the urgent crises facing our nation and the State of Florida—the Covid-19 pandemic, racial injustice, climate change—the administration has used tax dollars and government resources for a Jurassic Park experiment,” Jaydee Hanson, policy director for the International Center for Technology Assessment and Center for Food Safety, said in a press release Wednesday, following a local mosquito abatement board’s approval of the project.

The Florida Keys Mosquito Control Board on Tuesday approved the trial release, slated for 2021, following a years-long debate.

This would be the first U.S. trial of a genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquito, which can transmit diseases like Zika and dengue, WUSF Public Media reported Wednesday. The exact location of the release—in the Florida Keys island chain—has not yet been chosen, according to WUSF.

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