Genetically modified mosquitoes to combat malaria

Scientists have developed a technique to eradicate malaria by using genetically modified mosquitoes. It is one of the most ambitious plans to fight the disease. Malaria is a public health problem today and according to the WHO fact sheets malaria infects about 300-500 million people a year worldwide. Scientists from the Michigan State University are planning to release a synthetic gene that would pass through the entire species and genetically modify the mosquito so that it would be incapable of carrying the malaria parasite. It is for the first time that scientists have ever proposed altering an entire animal species. The process could work through either of the two methods. The first technique would attach the new gene to the species by infecting mosquitoes with a bacterium called 'wolbacteria'. This would lead to the offspring of these mosquitoes to carry the synthetic gene. The second method would use an element containing the gene that would alter the mosquitoes' chromosomes and ensure that over half of the offspring become genetically modified. The whole process would be carried out by releasing waves of genetically mosquitoes in specific locations around the world to mate with the local populations. The entire species is expected to be rendered more 'human-friendly' within the next 25 years. However the obstacles to be overcome are still daunting. According to some scientists the insect will not be fundamentally altered, and it will still bite humans and that the plan is an unnatural one. Malaria-resistant mosquitoes were always less robust than the natural mosquitoes. Releasing even large numbers of them would be pointless since they would be quickly selected out of the breeding population.

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