All Knowledge & Insights By Date

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a “Fact Check” on May 27, 2026, to “set the record straight” regarding recent claims circulating online that EPA has recently authorized the release of genetically engineered (GE) mosquitoes. EPA states that “[t]hese claims are false.” EPA provides the following facts: A previously issued Experimental Use Permit (EUP) expired in 2024; No releases are currently authorized in the United States; and EPA is not aware of any releases...

On May 1, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency granted an experimental use permit (EUP) to Oxitec Ltd. (Oxitec) to field test the use of genetically engineered Aedes aegypti mosquitoes as a way to reduce populations that serve as a vector for a variety of diseases including Zika virus.  The EUP is designed to test the effectiveness of genetically engineered Aedes aegypti mosquitoes as a way to reduce mosquito populations in specific locations with monitoring...