Genetically modified mosquitoes to fight malaria

Tags: Africa, Gene editing, Mosquitoes, Oxitec
The Naked Scientists, 2024.

Genetically engineered mosquitoes are taking to the air in an experiment to attempt to curtail malaria in Djibouti. The tiny African nation all but eliminated malaria just over a decade ago. But rising population and urbanisation has seen disease cases skyrocketing again, making it an ideal venue to test the technology, which uses a genetic trick to kill off selectively female mosquitoes; this leaves the males – which don’t bite humans – unharmed to breed and pass on the trait to other members of the species.