The recent field releases of genetically modified mosquitoes in inter alia The Cayman Islands, Malaysia and Brazil have been the source of intense debate in the specialized press [1, 2] as well as in the non-specialized mass media. For the first time in history (to our knowledge), transgenic Aedes aegypti were released in the Cayman Islands in 2010 by a private company, Oxitec, in collaboration with the local Mosquito Research and Control Unit (MRCU) [3]. The releases were followed by other releases in Malaysia in 2010/11 and then in Brazil in 2011 [4]. While the releases in Malaysia and Brazil were publicised beforehand, the releases in The Cayman Islands were only announced publicly one year after the fact [1, 5]. This lack of transparency, not to say the secrecy, in the way the first trial was conducted is without much doubt the major reason for the controversy that emerged. Brushing aside years of discussion in the scientific world and a shared recognition of the importance to consider ethical, legal and social issues this first trial could be read as a fait-accompli: the cage of transgenic mosquitoes has now been opened [6]. Oxitec faced harsh criticism for these releases, both within the scientific community, as well as from non-governmental organisations, such as GeneWatch that accused the company of acting like “a last bastion of colonialism”. A vector-borne diseases method for control has rarely been the subject of such discussion not even concerning its potential efficacy at reducing the burden associated with a vector-borne disease.