--- title: Florida Keys Vote Split on Oxitec Modified GM Mosquitoes description: Florida Keys voters are split on using genetically modified mosquitoes made by Oxitec. canonical: https://time.com/4564304/genetically-modified-mosquitoes-divide-florida-residents/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-09T17:51:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T01:43:16.660Z article:section: Health og:title: Florida Keys Vote Split on Oxitec Modified GM Mosquitoes og:description: Florida Keys voters are split on using genetically modified mosquitoes made by Oxitec. og:url: https://time.com/4564304/genetically-modified-mosquitoes-divide-florida-residents/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Florida Keys Vote Split on Oxitec Modified GM Mosquitoes twitter:description: Florida Keys voters are split on using genetically modified mosquitoes made by Oxitec. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Divide Florida Residents > Sponsored content. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Nov 9, 2016 5:51 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Nov 9, 2016 5:51 PM UTC Residents of the Florida Keys are split over whether they agree that [genetically modified mosquitoes](http://time.com/the-war-against-mosquito/) have a place in fighting the spread of vector-born diseases. The people of Key Haven, which is where a proposed mosquito trial would take place, voted against it. But residents of broader Monroe Country voted in favor of the modified mosquitoes testing. Ultimately, the decision to move forward will be up to the Florida Keys Mosquito Control Board. Given the split vote, the future of the project remains uncertain. Oxitec, the company that developed the mosquitoes, has engineered male mosquitoes to pass a fatal gene on to their offspring, which kills them before they reach adulthood. When released into the environment, Oxitec’s mosquitoes can, in ideal circumstances, suppress the proliferation of mosquitoes and ultimately cut down on the mosquito-borne diseases. When Oxitec’s trial was initially considered in the Florida Keys, there was an ongoing outbreak of dengue. Florida also also seen some cases of Zika in the Miami-Dade area. Oxitec [says](http://www.oxitec.com/monroe-county-support-trial-oxitecs-genetically-engineered-mosquitoes/) its other field trials in countries like Brazil, Panama and the Cayman Islands have led to over a 90% drop in the local _Aedes aegypti_ mosquito population—the very mosquitoes that transmit so many diseases. Some residents of the Keys have told TIME that they are concerned about the effect the mosquitoes could have on the environment. “As a country we have a tendency to overreact and then do things that we later regret and wish we could take back,” Michael Welber, a Florida Keys resident and environmental activist, [told TIME](http://time.com/the-war-against-mosquito/). Still, the plan may move forward. “I am very pleased,” says Oxitec CEO Hadyn Parry. “We expect to see the same results \[from this trial\] as we’ve seen everywhere else.” If the Florida Keys Mosquito Control Board decides in favor of Oxitec, Parry says the trial could kick off as soon as January. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4564304/genetically-modified-mosquitoes-divide-florida-residents/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4564304/genetically-modified-mosquitoes-divide-florida-residents/"},"headline":"Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Divide Florida Residents","datePublished":"2016-11-09T17:51:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:43:16.660Z","description":"It remains to be seen if the trial will move forward","url":"https://time.com/4564304/genetically-modified-mosquitoes-divide-florida-residents/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","Mosquitoes","Zika"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4564304/genetically-modified-mosquitoes-divide-florida-residents/","name":"Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Divide Florida Residents"}}]}] ```