WIRED: When is a mosquito not an insect? When it’s a pesticide
“It took a decade for British biotech firm Oxitec to program a self-destruct switch into mosquitoes. Perfecting that genetic technology, timed to kill the insects before they could spread diseases like Zika and dengue fever, was supposed to be the hard part. But getting the modified mosquitoes cleared to battle public health scares in the U.S. has been just as tough. … The switch from FDA to EPA oversight means an end to Oxitec’s endless waiting. That’s because the EPA is required by federal law to review new pesticides ‘as expeditiously as possible,’ which the statute defines as within 12 months after the submission of an application…” (Molteni, 10/17).