Millions of GM mosquitoes to fight Zika virus in Caymans

Biotech company Oxitec hopes to repeat a technique used in Brazil to reduce the population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

The British biotech company Oxitec and the Cayman Islands government announced plans on Thursday to release millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in the fight against a species that spreads Zika and other diseases.

Deployment of the mosquitoes against the Aedes aegypti species in the Cayman Islands is a major advance for Oxitec, which has promoted the method heavily as an environmentally safe way to combat the vectors of mosquito-borne illnesses while confronting public concerns about the technology.