Eliminating malaria via a simple genetic modification
Eliminating malaria via a simple genetic modification
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Malaria, Population modification/replacementS. Gunn, Front Line Genomics, 2021.
Despite decades worth of research and efforts, data from 2015 onwards suggests that there has been no significant progress in reducing global malaria cases. Every year, around 400,00 people die from malaria, with over 90% of cases being within sub-Saharan Africa. The rise of mosquito resistance to pesticides as well as malaria parasite resistance to antimalarial drugs has emphasised the urgent need for the development of new tools to fight this disease. One approach that researchers are exploring is the use of gene drives. A gene drive is a genetic modification that can spread through a population at higher inheritance rates than normal. In this context, researchers can genetically modify mosquitos that, when released into the environment, would spread genes to either reduce mosquito populations or make them less likely to spread the malaria parasite. Due to concerns regarding the safety of gene drives, it is vital that researchers prove that this approach is safe and effective before releasing the modified mosquitos into the wild. There are currently no clear pathways for safely testing these tools within endemic countries.