Gene Drive in the News
A curated collection of articles from the popular press
Imperial College London hosts West African journalists for science media programme
35528Nana Appiah Acquaye, Tech Review Africa, 2026-03-28 08:17:45.
Imperial College London has hosted a delegation of journalists from Ghana and Nigeria under the UK-Ghana Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) Media Capacity Programme. The initiative, supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the British High Commission Accra, and UK in Nigeria, aims to strengthen science communication and reporting capacity among African media professionals. During their visit to Imperial’s South Kensington campus, the journalists engaged with researchers working on advanced innovations including digital diagnostics, gene drive technology to combat malaria through Transmission Zero, and sustainable energy solutions under the DIGIBAT project. At the White City campus, the delegation met innovators in sustainable plastic development at Polymateria and explored emerging trends in agritech, areas expected to shape future science reporting. The group also interacted with Ofosua Adi-Dako of the University of Ghana, currently serving as a Global Faculty Fellow at Imperial’s I-X initiative, where she is advancing pharmacology research using artificial intelligence. The programme included workshops on science journalism and engagement with researchers, concluding with a media briefing by Imperial College President Hugh Brady. Organisers say the engagement is expected to strengthen collaboration between researchers and media practitioners, enhancing the quality and impact of science communication in West Africa.
As mosquitoes go year-round in L.A., a promising fix hits a snag
35516Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 2026-03-23 09:06:38.
Residents were supposed to get a respite from the ankle-nipping mosquitoes that fueled a recent surge in dengue fever in Los Angeles County. Typically, the invasive mosquitoes — called Aedes aegypti — essentially disappear from winter until early May in the region. Instead, complaints to local agencies tasked with controlling the pests spiked recently. “We have not seen them go away altogether like they have in previous years,” said Susanne Kluh, general manager for the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District. Their unusual presence adds to the urgency of work going on in a 40-foot shipping container tucked away in Pacoima. It's about to transform into a bustling nursery for tens of thousands of mosquitoes. This May, the district is set for the third year in a row to release legions of sterilized male mosquitoes — which don't bite — into parts of Sunland-Tujunga. The last two years were promising, with the female population in two treated neighborhoods plunging by an average of more than 80%. Yet business owners have signaled they're not willing to pay to expand it. That's thrown uncertainty into officials' goal of eventually bringing the approach to their whole service area, spanning 36 cities and unincorporated communities. “Unfortunately, that's going to be a rather expensive endeavor,” said Steve Vetrone, an assistant general manager for the district. “I can tell you right now that's not something that we can do with our current operating budget.”
Ifakara’s Transmission Zero team convenes stakeholders to review project progress
35524Ifakara Health Institute, 2026-03-19 09:32:34.
The Transmission Zero Program’s team at the Ifakara Health Institute hosted key stakeholders from government and research institutions in Dar es Salaam on March 17-18, to review progress and strengthen collaboration on the Transmission Zero project, an international research programme working to develop innovative genetic tools to stop malaria transmission. The project is African-led by Scientists from Ifakara Health Institute in collaboration with Imperial College London in the United Kingdom, National Institute for Medical Research in Tanzania and Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute in Switzerland. This collaborative model is paramount in ensuring sustainable capacity strengthening through infrastructure development, and knowledge and technology outputs. The meeting brought together members of the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) and ministerial authorities, and representatives from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to discuss program progress, challenges and considerations for introducing the program at scale.
Prairie grower groups fund research projects targeting canola diseases
35513Ian MacKay, Oyen Echo, 2026-03-17 08:56:22.
Three projects intended to deal with the canola disease verticillium stripe stand out among 11 research programs that a prairie growers consortium is funding this year. Leaders of the canola agronomic research program have chosen projects that they feel are “key to advancing canola productivity and mitigating production threats,” a statement said. The organization includes SaskOilseeds and similar Manitoba and Alberta grower groups, which together are spending over $2.4 million. Results Driven Agriculture Research in Alberta is supplying over $1 million and the Western Grains Research Foundation will chip in $495,000 to bring the total planned expenditure to over $4 million. “The genetic improvement and disease risks facing canola production need to be researched to find solutions,” said Laura Reiter of Radisson, who chairs the Western Grains Research Foundation. “As capacity among public research institutions decreases, grower-led investment isn't just an option anymore, it’s critical to the longevity of our industry,” said Cheryl Westman of Vermilion, who chairs Alberta Canola’s research program. A University of Calgary scientist heads a project titled “Discovering the verticillium longisporum genetic determinants of virulence,” a University of Manitoba scientist aims to test “biocontrol-based strategies” to deal with verticillium stripe in canola and another researcher from that university will use “genetic and molecular approaches” to increase canola’s resistance to verticillium stripe.
African scientists lead in Malaria research
35518Florian Jamax, Daily News, 2026-03-16 09:10:40.
For decades, African scientists have contributed essential data to global scientific research. Increasingly, however, they are no longer just contributors. Across the continent, researchers are assuming leadership roles, designing studies, building advanced laboratories and shaping research priorities that address Africa’s most urgent health challenges. This shift marks a significant transformation in the global scientific landscape. African institutions are developing the expertise and infrastructure required to lead high-impact studies from within the continent. Rather than relying solely on external partnerships, local scientists are defining research questions and creating solutions aligned with regional public health priorities. A major scientific breakthrough published in the journal Nature in late 2025 illustrates this transition. Beyond its immediate research findings, the study symbolised the growing capacity of African science to lead complex research addressing diseases that disproportionately affect the continent.
Selfish sperm hijack Overdrive gene to kill healthy rivals
35511Lisa Potter, Phys.org, 2026-03-12 15:14:08.
A new University of Utah-led study has discovered the mechanism behind a decades-old evolutionary mystery—how "selfish chromosomes" cheat the rules of genetic inheritance. The researchers found that rogue chromosomes hijack the Overdrive (Ovd) gene to destroy rival sperm. The study is the first to identify that the Ovd gene acts as a quality control checkpoint during sperm development. Normally, Ovd detects and eliminates abnormal sperm cells. But selfish chromosomes exploit the system to kill competitors, boosting their chances of passing into the next generation. The findings, published in Nature Communications, reveal the biology behind segregation distortion, a phenomenon in which genes sway inheritance in their favor to beat the standard 50/50 odds predicted by Mendelian genetics. The team observed the scheme in two Drosophila species, each carrying completely different selfish chromosomes, which suggests that multiple genetic systems may evolve independently to exploit the same Ovd pathway.
Feral rabbit numbers are booming, so do myxomatosis and calicivirus still work, and what’s next for biocontrol?
35522Belinda Smith, ABC News, 2026-03-12 09:20:38.
If you've noticed more feral rabbits around than usual, you're right. Much of Australia is experiencing a bunny boom, driven by consecutive years of good breeding conditions. But with an estimated 200 million feral European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) currently hopping around the continent, you might also have wondered if the viruses that kept their numbers down in the past — myxoma virus and a calicivirus that causes rabbit haemorrhagic disease — still work. Heidi Kleinert, national feral rabbit management coordinator at the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions, says ideally Australia needs to develop and release a new biocontrol every 10 to 15 years to keep rabbit numbers as low as possible. "It takes time to find another effective virus that we know is targeted specifically to rabbits, and we know is proven and tested and has approval from government organisations," Ms Kleinert says. "Across Australia, we're seeing more rabbits in peri-urban and urban areas. That's why we need that continuous pipeline of biological control, because in these areas we can't use bait and toxins close to domestic housing and domestic pets." So how do myxoma and rabbit haemorrhagic disease viruses work, and what goes into finding the next bunny biocontrol weapon?
Equatorial Guinea’s high-tech push to end malaria by 2030
35501Ronald Musoke, The Independent, 2026-03-10 09:39:41.
In the humid equatorial belt of Central Africa; where dense forests, heavy rains and winding rivers create ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes, malaria has long been a stubborn public health adversary. For Equatorial Guinea, the disease has shaped health outcomes, economic prospects and daily life for decades. Now the small oil-rich nation is attempting something few countries in malaria-endemic regions have managed: complete elimination. Speaking during a virtual press briefing held on Feb. 26, hosted by the Addis Ababa-based Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Equatorial Guinea’s Minister of Health, Social Welfare and Health Infrastructure, Mitoha Ondo’o Ayekaba, laid out an ambitious national strategy known as Vision 2030. The goal is simple but formidable—eradicate malaria across the country within the next five years. The plan builds on two decades of progress on Bioko Island and introduces a new phase of intervention combining vaccines, advanced surveillance, cutting-edge vector control and emerging technologies such as genetically modified mosquitoes. “This is a historic transition from advanced malaria control to full national elimination,” Ayekaba said. But the path from control to eradication will test the limits of science, policy and community engagement.
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine joins the Target Malaria Consortium
35499Dr. Tony Nolan, Target Malaria: News, 2026-03-10 09:34:21.
Target Malaria has so far been working on the three widespread vectors of the Anopheles gambiae species complex: An. coluzzii, An. gambiae, and An. arabiensis. As members of a species complex, these three species are morphologically indistinguishable. Together, they are among the most important malaria vectors in sub-Saharan Africa. Although they are distinct species, they can occasionally inter-breed. In addition, Anopheles funestus is a widespread vector across sub-Saharan Africa. It is more distantly related to the gambiae species complex and is not capable of hybridising with those species. An. funestus has distinct ecological characteristics and is a highly efficient vector of malaria – its species name, funestus, means “deadly”. In some areas, it is the dominant contributor to malaria transmission. Modelling indicates that achieving the full public health impact of gene drive will require trageting of An. funestus, as malaria transmission in many regions is shared between multiple vector species. Anopheles funestus is particularly challenging to colonise and maintain in the laboratory. Our team at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine was among the first to demonstrate stable genetic modification of An. funestus, establishing the technical foundation required to explore gene drive approaches in this species. Through joining Target Malaria, we will extend gene drive research beyond the gambiae complex and support the development of multi-species gene drive strategies for malaria control.
Is a ‘selfish gene’ making a Utah family have twice as many boys as girls?
35478Ewen Callaway, Nature, 2026-02-27 18:24:37.
By sifting through an anonymized genealogy database, researchers have discovered a Utah family that has been having twice as many boys as girls for seven generations. It is the first clear evidence that humans might have ‘selfish genes’ that distort the sex ratio of offspring from roughly 50:50, the researchers argue in a preprint posted on bioRxiv earlier this month. The findings have not been peer-reviewed. Such sex ‘distorters’ have been discovered — and studied in great depth — in laboratory animals such as mice and flies, in which their effects can be detected through selective breeding. “If you look, more often than not, you find them,” says Nitin Phadnis, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, who co-led the study. Theoretical predictions suggest that sex distorters probably do exist in people as well, and that they could produce excesses of biological boys or girls at birth. But humans’ long generation times and low birth rates as well as ethical issues have made such genes — and other ‘selfish’ genetic elements , meaning that they bias their own transmission to future generations whether or not they improve an individual’s biological fitness — difficult to spot.
“Millions have been released.” Hawaii’s beautiful birds are dying. But scientists have a controversial plan to save them
35457James Fair, BBC Wildlife Magazine, 2026-02-24 09:58:30.
About 6-7 million years ago, common rosefinches – which are today found across a vast expanse of northern Eurasia and are even occasional winter visitors to the British Isles – island-hopped their way from the Russian Far East across the Pacific Ocean and arrived in the newly formed, volcanic land masses of Hawaii. There, a single species evolved into an extended family of 56 Hawaiian honeycreepers, many of which only barely resemble their pioneering ancestor. Take, for example, the gorgeous scarlet honeycreeper or i’iwi, with its huge downward curving bill that is perfectly adapted for extracting nectar from endemic Hawaiian flowers. At first glance, it looks nothing like a finch. It’s an amazing story, but also a tragic one, because according to the US Fish & Wildlife Service, 39 of Hawaii’s honeycreepers are extinct, and 11 of the remaining 17 are threatened. One of the biggest factors in this natural history catastrophe is avian malaria. Neither the single-celled organism that causes malaria, nor the mosquito that transmits it, are native to Hawaii, so honeycreepers and other endemic birds have almost no immunity to it. All conservationists agree that something needs to be done – and quickly – if we are to save those that remain. Step forward scientists such as Tim Harvey-Samuel, an expert in arthropod genetics at the University of Keele. Harvey-Samuel and his team are seeing whether they can “modify the mosquito population in Hawaii such that it’s no longer able to transmit avian malaria.” The idea is to insert a gene into the mosquito (Culex quinquefasciatus) so that it doesn’t allow the Plasmodium protozoan that causes malaria to complete its life-cycle.
Space Coast releases X-rayed skeeters to take bite out of dengue
35410Jim Waymer, Florida Today, 2026-01-29 10:40:25.
The Space Coast has unleashed 'nuked' skeeters in a new biological bid to neuter dengue fever. Last year, Brevard saw its first locally caught cases of the tropical disease and wound up with the most in Florida. In response, the county decided to let loose thousands of X-rayed male mosquitoes to zap the insect's next generation. Turns out an adult skeeter can survive X-ray doses more than 10 times what would kill humans. Unlike humans, once mature, most mosquito cells stop dividing, so radiation rushing through has fewer chances to distort most of its DNA. But X-rays will tear up the insect's reproductive genes enough to render the male mosquito sterile. That's among the reasons mosquito-control officials assure this time-tested method is safe and environmentally friendly. They emphasize that it's not anything like the much-more controversial gene modification of mosquitoes used in recent years in the Florida Keys. "When we're releasing, there's no voodoo," said Joe Faella, Brevard's mosquito control director.
Wolbachia mosquito release cuts dengue cases 50–80 percent
35437Mohamad Al As, Zaf Seraj, New Straits Times, 2026-01-27 18:26:15.
The release of Wolbachia-infected Aedes mosquitoes has led to a 50 to 80 per cent drop in dengue cases in several outbreak areas in Selangor, the Dewan Rakyat was told. Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said public health studies conducted during the early phase of the programme showed encouraging results. "During the early phase of implementation, the results of public health studies in six dengue outbreak localities in Selangor showed a reduction in dengue cases between 50 per cent and 80 per cent compared with control localities," he said in a written parliamentary reply last night. He was responding to Mohd Hasnizan Harun (PN-Hulu Selangor), who asked whether the ministry has conducted comprehensive environmental and public health impact studies related to the release of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes. Hasnizan also asked about continuous monitoring mechanisms to ensure long-term safety. Dzulkefly said the early assessments also examined the interaction between Wolbachia-infected Aedes mosquitoes and the existing mosquito population in the environment.
Three Stunning Ways Biologists Aim to Edit Animal and Plant Genes to Fight Diseases and Extinction
35386Sandy Ong, Smithsonian Magazine, 2026-01-21 16:42:41.
In the summer of 1904, Herman Merkel, chief forester at the Bronx Zoo, in New York City, was making his usual rounds across the property when he noticed something strange growing on American chestnut trees: misshapen constellations of swollen, orange-brown cankers. Unbeknownst to Merkel, his observations were the first signs of what would later be referred to as “the greatest ecological disaster in North America since the Ice Age.” Further investigation revealed that the culprit was a fungus called Cryphonectria parasitica, or chestnut blight, which slips its spores through cracks in the bark and fatally severs a tree’s water and nutrient supply. The pathogen was a stowaway that had arrived on imported Japanese chestnut trees, which are resistant—but on American soil, it proved to be a swift and merciless killer. Barely a year later, the blight had claimed nearly all the zoo’s chestnuts—as well as those in the surrounding Bronx parks. By the 1950s, it had wiped out 99 percent of the species’ population across the Eastern United States, where more than four billion of the towering trees had once so blanketed the landscape that a squirrel was said to be able to travel from Maine to Georgia on chestnut branches alone. Since then, scientists have tried, with little success, to bring the trees back from the brink. Today, American chestnuts are considered functionally extinct. Full-sized trees are hard to come by; mainly roots and shoots remain. Scientists have bred hybrid American-Chinese chestnut trees, but planting fully native species is important for ecological restoration goals, says Andrew Newhouse, director of the American Chestnut Research and Restoration Project at the State University of New York (SUNY). Thanks to an emerging field, the iconic trees—and other imperiled species—could one day be restored. The discipline, called synthetic biology, relies on editing organisms’ DNA to introduce new genes or modify existing ones, essentially reprogramming life to fight disease, clean up the environment, increase food production and more. For chestnut trees, making changes to their genome could boost their resistance to the blight.
Color-coded mosquitoes safely enables male-only releases to combat Dengue and Zika
35369Joshua Shavit, The Brighter Side of News, 2026-01-16 11:13:48.
Across much of the world, a tiny striped insect shapes whether families stay healthy or get sick. The Asian tiger mosquito carries Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya, and traditional control efforts often struggle to keep up. A new genetic trick that literally changes how these mosquitoes look could help tip the balance in your favor. Only female mosquitoes bite and pass on viruses. Males drink nectar, not blood. Many modern control programs release large numbers of males that are sterile or carry a trait that reduces survival in the next generation. When those males mate with wild females, fewer disease-carrying offspring survive. There is one big catch. These programs must release only males. If too many females slip through, they will still bite, still spread disease and may even weaken the program. Today, most facilities separate sexes by size during the pupal stage. That work is tedious, hard to automate and far from perfect. Researchers led by Doron Zaada and Prof. Philippos Papathanos at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem set out to remove that bottleneck. Their idea was simple and bold. Make male and female mosquitoes so visually different that machines, or even the human eye, can sort them at a glance. The team focused on Aedes albopictus, also known as the Asian tiger mosquito. It is aggressive, invasive and a major target for control programs worldwide. In their study, the scientists describe a “Genetic Sexing Strain” that turns sex into a visible trait. They used CRISPR gene editing to break a gene called yellow that controls dark pigment in the mosquito body. When this gene is disrupted, the insects turn pale, almost albino. The group then restored normal dark pigmentation only in males by linking a working copy of the yellow gene to nix, a sex-determining gene. Nix acts like a master switch. When it turns on in a mosquito, the insect develops as a fertile male, even if it started out genetically female. By tying yellow to nix, the team created a line in which all males are dark and all females remain pale. “This produces an engineered sex-linked trait in mosquitoes that uses the insect’s own genes,” said Prof. Papathanos. “By understanding and controlling the sex determination pathway, we were able to create a system were males and females are visually different at the genetic level.”
Scientists in Australia have created a genetically edited cane toad that gets stuck in the tadpole stage and attacks the plague before it spreads.
35365Noel Budeguer, Click Petróleo e Gás, 2026-01-16 10:59:37.
Australia has begun testing an unusual idea to combat one of the country's most persistent biological invasions: creating tadpoles of the cane toad who have never seen adults. The goal is to cut the problem off at the source, before the animals grow, leave the water, and move into new areas, increasing the impact on native wildlife. The proposal is noteworthy because it shifts the focus of control. Instead of targeting adults who have already spread out, the action targets the point where the population begins, the spawning grounds. The cane toad, a species Rhinella marina, it was introduced in Australia in 1935 and spread rapidly through northern regions. The species adapted quickly, encountered few natural barriers, and came to dominate environments where native animals cannot compete on an equal footing. Over time, the problem ceased to be isolated and became a constant threat to entire ecosystems. The adult stage is what allows the cane toad to move long distances and occupy new territories. The idea behind the project is to prevent this transition, keeping the animal confined to the aquatic environment and reducing the arrival of adults in the natural habitat. In practice, the plan attempts to halt the spread of the pest before it "jumps" out of the water. The technique uses CRISPR Cas9 to alter a point related to the hormonal control of metamorphosis. The target is the production of thyroxine, a hormone that triggers the transformation of the tadpole into an adult frog. Without this signaling, the animal remains in the aquatic phase and does not complete the cycle that would make it an even more aggressive terrestrial invader.
Researchers Use Gene Editing to Separate Male and Female Mosquitoes
35367ISAAA Inc., 2026-01-14 11:04:44.
Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a new genetic method to separate male and female mosquitoes, which is highly beneficial for large-scale mosquito control programs. Led by Doron Zaada and Prof. Philippos Papathanos, the study aims to improve existing separation strategies that are labor-intensive, difficult to scale, and rely on releasing only male mosquitoes. The study focused on the Asian Tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), a major carrier of diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, and Zika. Using CRISPR, the researchers developed a genetically engineered “Genetic Sexing Strain” by disrupting the mosquito's yellow pigmentation gene, then restored dark pigmentation only in males by linking the gene to nix, a “master switch” that converts females into fertile males. This resulted in a stable strain in which males are dark-colored, and females are yellow. The study also found that the yellow females lay eggs that cannot survive dry conditions, unlike wild mosquito eggs that can survive for months. The genetically converted males were shown to behave and reproduce like natural males, indicating their effectiveness for vector control programs. The researchers said that the next step is to improve the female mosquitoes' ability to survive high temperatures or specific additives used in mosquito mass-rearing biofactories.
Florida releases millions of genetically modified mosquitoes from Oxitec in the Florida Keys to try to reduce dengue and Zika by up to 95%, in a real-world experiment that divides residents and ushers in a new era of ecosystem editing.
35351Carla Teles, Click Petróleo e Gás, 2026-01-10 09:57:25.
In a quiet Florida neighborhood, things began with something that seemed mundane. Gray boxes started appearing in backyards and along the edges of mangrove swamps, accompanied by a simple instruction: fill with water and leave. Nobody saw anything special about them, just discreet containers scattered around the neighborhood. What almost nobody realized was that those boxes were capsules for a global experiment: from inside them would emerge millions of mosquitoes. Created in a laboratory, carrying a genetic code designed to attack their own species. In the following months, these boxes became the starting point for waves of millions of mosquitoes A laboratory experiment over the Florida Keys. For some residents, it looked like the beginning of an apocalyptic movie. For others, it was a desperate gamble to contain dengue and Zika outbreaks that had been approaching year after year. And behind it all was Oxitec, a British biotechnology company that transformed a common mosquito into a small flying genetic saboteur.
Researchers develop temperature-controlled gene-editing method to potentially improve efforts to control disease-carrying insects
35356Caliann Ferguson, UT Health Houston School of Public Health, 2026-01-06 09:54:29.
New research presents promising results from an innovative technique that utilizes temperature control to genetically engineer sterile populations of insects, such as mosquitoes responsible for diseases like malaria, dengue, and other vector-borne illnesses. Led by researchers at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, the Nature Communications publication leverages historical and traditional sterilization insect techniques (SIT) and applies an innovative method that can be scaled for larger population protection. Used for decades, traditional SITs include releasing large numbers of sterile males into mosquito populations so that when they mate with wild females, no viable offspring are produced. CRISPR/Cas9-based methods have proven challenging as they require breeding two separate lines of engineered insects and carefully sorting those insects to produce and release only sterile males. Led by principal investigator Victor Lopez Del Amo, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology, and Christina Nguyen, a research technician, who carried out most of the experiments, this promising method aims to simplify the traditional SIT by harnessing a gene-editing tool called CRISPR-Cas12a that can generate male sterility and female lethality in a temperature-controlled manner. Cas12a can be engineered to be inactive at lower temperatures and active at higher temperatures. This property enabled the team to develop a single genetically modified insect strain that possesses the genetic composition necessary to disrupt key fertility and reproductive genes.
The ‘mosquito factory’ breeding genetically-engineered insects to fight malaria
35321Rachel Schraer, The Independent, 2025-12-28 11:31:52.
A British company breeding mosquitoes whose offspring cannot spread malaria is set to start releasing the insects into Djibouti city by the end of the year. Genetically-engineered male mosquitoes hatched in boxes placed around the East African capital will produce female babies with genes that cause them to die before they reach adulthood. Only female mosquitoes bite and spread disease. The scheme is designed to slash the number of mosquitoes to reduce cases of malaria, which currently infects up to 10 per cent of the country a year. Malaria is among the world’s biggest killers of children under five. “So much has been achieved with existing tools,” like bed nets and insecticide spraying, says Neil Morrison, chief strategy officer at Oxitec, the British biotech company which produces the altered mosquitoes. “But progress is stalling” as resistance is being built up. As global funding to fight malaria reduces, thanks to cuts by the US, UK and a number of other nations, Morrison adds: “We just need to get a bit smarter in terms of how we think about controlling mosquitoes.”A piece of code is inserted into the genetic material of the mosquitoes at a research facility in the UK, before the “friendly” mosquitoes are transported to a “mosquito factory” in Djibouti, Morrison explains. A chemical antidote is then given to the mosquitoes to “switch off” the code, allowing them to survive and breed within that “factory”.
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