KEY WEST, Fla., Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Nearly 140,000 Floridians have signed a petition against a proposal to let a British company release genetically modified mosquitoes in their state.
The company, Oxitec, is hoping to release male mosquitoes that have been modified to produce offspring that won't "survive to adulthood." The genetically modified mosquitoes will instinctually seek out wild female mosquitoes, and their producing offspring that won't survive will lower the total population. They want to do this in an effort to fight the extremely painful and often lethal dengue virus, which is spread by mosquitoes.