The biotech Oxitec had released the genetically engineered insects with the hope that they would breed with wild populations and produce offspring that die young. But that’s not always happening.

The fast-growing fish can now be raised and sold in the US, although it’s likely to be some time before the product hits the market.

The large-scale experiments aim to test how the technology would fare in the wild, if deployed to knock down populations of the pests.

Risks that pertain to all manner of new crops are often misattributed to genetic engineering. This distorts the public’s view of the technology.

While farmers have the green light to grow the genetically engineered plant, FDA approval is still needed before the seeds are sold as food.

The European Court of Justice has decided that organisms made with precision techniques such as CRISPR will be subject to the same rules as transgenic plants or animals.

Biotechs have developed enzyme replacements and genetically modified probiotics to treat patients with the rare metabolic disorder.

Scientists infuse plants with the luminescence of fireflies. 

The US government has approved the deployment of the lab-raised insects to eliminate the Zika- and dengue-transmitting Asian tiger mosquito.