Gene Drives: The advanced science fiction technology used to fight malaria mosquitoes explained

Tags: Africa, Gene drive synthetic, Malaria
Anonymous, NewsBeezer, 2022.

Scientists are using the most advanced form of genetic engineering to eradicate a population of malaria-carrying mosquitoes by rendering the females infertile. Scientists introduced a lab-tweaked gene (a gene created using Gene Drive) into an organism that automatically replicates itself and targets a specific natural gene to destroy it. The potential of the gene drive was explored back in 2003 by Austin Burt, a professor at Imperial College London. Burt studied “selfish genes” that can copy themselves into a specific target DNA sequence. As research continues to develop, Burt said this technology has great potential, for example it could be used to eliminate a population of malaria-carrying mosquitoes.