Study claimed a GMO trial went horrifically wrong. The study’s authors disagree

Enlarge / A transgenic Aedes aegypti OX513A mosquito, created by Oxitec. (credit: Getty | MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL)

Six researchers are reportedly calling for the retraction of their study, which claimed that a trial of genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes went horrifically wrong and resulted in extra-dangerous, mutant blood-suckers flying rampant in a Brazilian city.

The study-authored by 10 researchers in total and published September 10 in Scientific Reports-monitored the consequences of a pilot release of GM mosquitoes in Jacobina, Brazil, that started in 2013.

The GM mosquitoes are a strain of Aedes aegypti created by British biotechnology company Oxitec and dubbed OX513A. The insects carry an artificially created gene (a transgene) that kills nearly all of their offspring, thereby smacking down the mosquito population overall.

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