New findings suggest that nearly 75% of people who submitted comments to the FDA opposed a trial that would use a genetically modified mosquito, known as OX513A, to suppress Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which transmit diseases such as Zika, dengue and chikungunya.

“Trials of OX513A in other countries have demonstrated reductions in numbers of A. aegypti. The environmental assessment indicated the trial would be unlikely to adversely affect the environment in Key Haven, Florida, the proposed trial site,” Cinnamon S. Bloss, PhD, from the department of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues wrote. “Despite an increase in vector-borne diseases in the United States, there has been public opposition to novel vector control methods, particularly those that leverage advances in genetic engineering.”