Washington DC : A team of researchers playing God has come up with a new breed of genetically modified mosquito that could help wipe out malaria within years, says ANI. For the first time, malarial mosquitoes have been modified to be infertile and pass on the trait rapidly, raising the possibility of reducing the spread of disease.
The mosquito species Anopheles gambiae is a major carrier of dangerous malaria parasites in sub-Saharan Africa, where 90 per cent of annual malaria deaths occur.
Now, the Imperial College London researchers have genetically modified Anopheles gambiae so that they carry a modified gene disrupting egg production in female mosquitoes. They used a technology called ‘gene drive’ to ensure the gene is passed down at an accelerated rate to offspring, spreading the gene through a population over time.
