Residents in the Florida Keys will get to vote on whether genetically modified mosquitoes should be released in their neighborhood.
The mosquito control district in the island chain wants the British biotech firm Oxitec to test its modified mosquitoes in a neighborhood on a peninsula north of Key West.
At a board meeting Tuesday in Marathon, the district's board of commissioners decided to allow residents of the Key Haven neighborhood to have a say in the project.
The vote will be non-binding, but The Key West Citizen reports that a majority of the five commissioners said they would abide by the will of the voters.
The Monroe County Supervisor of Elections Office agreed to oversee the election, and the ballot question will go before voters in the Aug. 30 primary.
