Even the hedge fund manager Thomas U. Barton, who made his mark as a skeptical short-seller, gushes. After tests in Brazil by Oxitec , the British biotech company owned by Intrexon , showed a fall of 82 % in the population of wild mosquitoes after the introduction of its genetically modified mosquitoes whose larvae die before reaching adulthood , the FDA is " greatly expediting " the company 's application for further testing in the Florida Keys and is planning to release a draft environmental assessment soon . Despite critics who question whether the technology is scalable to tackle the Zika epidemic , Intrexon is building a factory in Piracicaba , Brazil , to produce 60 m male mosquitoes a week , enough to feed at least 300k people .
After tests in Brazil by Oxitec , the British biotech company owned by Intrexon , showed a fall of 82 % in the population of wild mosquitoes after the introduction of its genetically modified mosquitoes whose larvae die before reaching adulthood , the FDA is " greatly expediting " the company 's application for further testing in the Florida Keys and is planning to release a draft environmental assessment soon . Despite critics who question whether the technology is scalable to tackle the Zika epidemic , Intrexon is building a factory in Piracicaba , Brazil , to produce 60 m male mosquitoes a week , enough to feed at least 300k people .