Engineered Malaria-Proof Mosquitoes

Ranging from 200 to 300 million infections a year, malaria is one of the most deadly and wide-spreading disease ever known to man. What’s to blame for approximately 1 to 2 million deaths a year; a common mosquito bite.

The best solution to fighting the spread of the bacteria that leads to malaria is to ensure the mosquitoes that breed this infection are immune to it. That’s exactly what researches have done. A new, genetically engineered breed of mosquitoes has been discovered to block the bacteria with one hundred percent accuracy. They accomplished this by shortening the life span of the mosquitoes, preventing the 16 day maturity rate of the malaria from developing within the animal’s stomachs. However it’s not quite certain how the animals will compete in nature. With no attractive adaptation changes and a shorter life span, it may be harder for the new mosquitoes to reproduce efficiently enough to completely overcome this disease and eradicate the deadly mosquitoes that do not have the new gene alteration.

Although the new mosquitoes are still undergoing safety testing, researchers believe this will be a huge step in preventing millions of malaria cases each year and will ultimately save human lives.