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UN: Stopping Zika May Require Genetically Modified Insects

By on February 16, 2016

Guilherme Trivellato, from the British biotec company Oxitec, releases genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which are a vector for the spread of the Zika virus, in Piracicaba, Brazil. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Guilherme Trivellato, from the British biotec company Oxitec, releases genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which are a vector for the spread of the Zika virus, in Piracicaba, Brazil. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

GENEVA – The World Health Organization says it might be necessary to use controversial methods like genetically modified mosquitoes to wipe out the insects that are now spreading Zika across the Americas.

The virus has been linked to a spike in babies born with abnormally small heads in Brazil and French Polynesia. WHO has declared Zika a global emergency, even though there is no definitive proof it is causing the birth defects.

In a statement on Tuesday, WHO said its advisory group has recommended further field trials of genetically modified mosquitoes, following trials in the Cayman Islands where sterile male mosquitoes were released to mate with wild females.

Environmentalists have previously criticized this approach, saying it’s impossible to know the long-term effects of wiping out an entire insect population.

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