Gene Drive in the News
A curated collection of articles from the popular press
Self-Deleting Genes Could Control Mosquitoes And Prevent Vector-Borne Diseases
22493A. Russell, Texas AM TODAY, 2022-05-11 07:33:02.
Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists are testing a technology to make temporary genetic modifications in mosquitoes that self-delete over time. The mechanism to make temporary genetic changes could be important for scientists hoping to modify mosquitoes in ways that help manage populations and prevent vector-borne diseases like West Nile virus without permanently altering wild populations’ genetic makeup. An article detailing their test results is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’ PNAS Nexus. The authors, Zach Adelman and Kevin Myles, both professors in the Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Entomology, describe a method for programming the removal of edited genes within populations of mosquitoes over multiple generations. The method is a first step toward building safeguards for genetic modifications developed to control populations of mosquitoes and the vector-borne diseases they carry. The idea is to test proposed changes without making the changes permanent and without the risk of transmitting them to wild populations, Adelman said.
Mosquitoes Genetically Modified to Stop Disease Pass Early Test
22448L. Rapaport, WebMD, 2022-05-09 08:57:53.
Genetically modified mosquitoes released in the U.S. appear to have passed an early test that suggests they might one day help reduce the population of insects that transmit infectious diseases. As part of the test, scientists released nearly 5 million genetically engineered male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes over the course of 7 months in the Florida Keys. Male mosquitoes don’t bite people, and these were also modified so they would transmit a gene to female offspring that causes them to die before they can reproduce. In theory, this means the population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes would die off over time, so they wouldn’t spread diseases any more. The goal of this pilot project in Florida was to see if these genetically modified male mosquitoes could successfully mate with females in the wild, and to confirm whether their female offspring would indeed die before they could reproduce. On both counts, the experiment was a success, Oxitec, the biotechnology company developing these engineered Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, said in a webina
Self-eliminating Genes Tested on Disease-carrying Mosquitoes
22292M. Taylor, Laboratory Equipment, 2022-05-09 08:25:47.
There’s good reason why CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing is not allowed at the germline. While international commissions are working hard to make this a possibility, potential unknown effects further down the ancestry line raise concerns about the process. The insect equivalent of this—gene drive transgene research—hasn’t been a cause of much concern for researchers working on genetic control of vector populations, especially disease-carrying mosquitoes. Scientists from Texas A&M, however, think the potential affects should be always be considered and have now devised a technology to make all genetic modifications in mosquitoes temporary—until a time when adequate testing ensures safety. Zach Adelman, author of a new paper on the research and a professor at Texas A&M, says many of today’s insect genetic control strategies are based on highly invasive, self-propagating transgenes that can rapidly spread the trait into other populations of mosquitoes. Adelman’s method, however, allows proposed genetic changes to be tested on a temporary basis—without the risk of transmitting them to wild populations. The temporary genetic modifications self-delete over multiple generations of mosquitoes.
Setting the world’s deadliest animal to self-destruct
22210A. Ossola, QUARTZ, 2022-05-08 15:29:34.
The mosquitoes are coming - and the, hopefully, they're going. This wee, British biotech company Oxitec plans to kick off a months-long experiment in which it will release billions of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in California and Florida. But these aren't just any mosquitoes - they're genetically engineered so that they don't bite and will, if all goes according to plan, eventually reduce the population of mosquitoes in these areas.
The fight against malaria
22445F. Ammache, Year 2049, 2022-05-06 08:51:20.
Malaria is a disease we’ve been dealing with for thousands of years. Traces of the malaria parasite have been found in the remains of Egyptian mummies. Hippocrates described the fevers caused by malaria in Ancient Greece. The mosquito-filled Pontine Marshes protected Ancient Rome from invaders. Back then, we thought the disease was caused by people breathing “bad air”, or “mal aria”. The relationship between mosquitoes and malaria was unknown. Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest form of malaria, was introduced by a new breed of mosquitoes around the 5th century. Some historians speculate that P. falciparum played a key role in the fall of the Roman Empire. It wasn’t until 1897 that we understood that mosquitoes transmitted malaria. Sir Ronald Ross, a British doctor based in India, found the malaria parasite in the blood of Anopheles mosquitoes which proved a hypothesis that was first put forward by his predecessor Alphonse Laveran.
State of Florida approves release of millions of genetically modified mosquitoes
22216H. Crawford, FIRSTCOAST NEWS, 2022-05-04 15:34:00.
The state of Florida has given the green light to Oxitec, a U-K biotechnology company, to release millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in Monroe County starting this Spring. It’s a controversial pilot program that began in the Florida Keys in 2021 to evaluate the effectiveness of Oxitec mosquitoes to control the invasive, disease-spreading Aedes aegypti mosquito. According to an email obtained by First Coast News, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) approved extending the experimental use permit on Tuesday. The department says it does not and will not be making a formal announcement related to the issuance of any pesticide registration. “Yesterday, FDACS authorized the distribution and experimental use of OX5034 AEDES AEGYPTI (EPA EUP NO. 93617-EUP-2) in Florida,” an email from the Division of Agricultural Environmental Services read. The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District has been working with Oxitec on field trials. Since 2021, millions of genetically modified male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes have been strategically released in Monroe County as part of the Oxitec Mosquito Project. In March, the EPA approved the release of 2.4 billion more in Monroe County and California over the next two years under an experimental use permit. Oxitec had to get approval from each state before proceeding. The mosquitoes are designed to kill biting females before they mature.
Genetically Modified Mosquitoes May Protect The World From Disease
22213J. R. Learn, DISCOVER, 2022-05-04 15:29:48.
Forget lions, hippos or venomous spiders. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes may be among the deadliest wildlife in the world. Their bite is relatively harmless in normal circumstances. But many of these mosquitoes carry diseases they transmit from the blood of one host to another, including Zika, chikungunya, dengue and yellow fever. Like the related tiger mosquito that also carries these diseases, the Ae. aegypti are distinguished by black and white stripes along their legs. These mosquitoes thrive in urban areas, which makes the spread of the diseases they carry particularly insidious. They typically breed in small volumes of water, like in discarded tires and flower pots. But a new genetically engineered technology can get the mosquitoes to breed themselves out of existence. “We want to have a tool that’s going to have a real impact on disease transmission, and we want it to be accessible,” says Nathan Rose, head of regulatory affairs at Oxitec. “Our real focus has been on finding environmentally friendly ways of controlling pests.”
Brit firm sparks fury after ‘releasing genetically modified mosquitoes’ into wild
22069C. Lawrence-Jones, Daily Star, 2022-04-29 07:17:13.
A British company has sparked fury after releasing genetically modified mosquitoes into the wild that critics say could produce new strains of super-mozzies. UK-based Oxitec say they've hacked the insects' genetic make up and hope it will ultimately kill off all-female offspring wiping out huge colonies of the bug. Mosquitoes are some of the deadliest creatures in the world with mosquito-borne diseases killing around a million people every year. In time, Oxitec argue, the hybrids could wipe out mosquito-borne diseases like dengue and yellow fever. But the experimental release in California and Florida Keys, an island chain at the very tip of Florida in the U.S. has angered critics.
Self-eliminating genes tested on mosquitoes
21924A. Russell, AGRILIFE Today, 2022-04-27 09:13:46.
Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists have tested a technology to make temporary genetic modifications in mosquitoes. The modifications self-delete over time. Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists published an article detailing a mechanism to make temporary genetic alterations to mosquitoes. The mechanism to make temporary genetic changes could be important for scientists hoping to modify mosquitoes in ways that help manage populations and prevent vector-borne diseases like West Nile virus without permanently altering wild populations’ genetic makeup.
Genetically altered mosquitoes to close gaps in malaria fight
22248M. Murigi, People Daily, 2022-04-25 09:00:48.
In 2020, nearly 6.9 million cases of malaria and about 742 deaths were confirmed in Kenya according to the Kenya Malaria Indicator Survey (KMIS) 2020. Although the number of reported infections declined from 10.9 million in 2018, the disease is still one of the main health issues in the country despite being a largely preventable and treatable disease. Kenya is not the only country suffering from the burden of this life-threatening disease. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) latest world malaria report, there were an estimated 241 million malaria cases and 627,000 malaria deaths worldwide in 2020. This represents about 14 million more cases in 2020 compared to 2019, and 69,000 more deaths. The high number of malaria cases continues to be registered even though several efforts have been put in place towards malaria eradication. It is for this reason scientists and researchers are assessing the use of new tools to edit the genes of malaria-transmitting mosquitoes as they try to come up with a long-lasting solution towards control and elimination of this disease. “The war against malaria has been ongoing for decades. It has led to the development of several interventions strategies, such as antimalarial drugs, insecticide-treated nets, and vaccines among others. However, despite all the interventions, the disease has not been eradicated because there are increased cases of insecticide resistance in mosquitoes, which pose a significant public health concern,” says Dr Willy Kiprotich Tonui, EBS, the Chairman and Executive Director at the Environmental Health Safety (EHS) Consultancy Limited who also doubles up as the Founder and Head of Secretariat to African Genetic Biocontrol Consortium.
MIT Researchers Propose Using Genetically Modified Mice to Fight Lyme Disease
21917K. Perrotte, Field and Stream, 2022-04-25 08:49:40.
In Massachusetts, researchers at MIT are proposing an experiment that would involve releasing genetically engineered mice into the native mouse population to ultimately reduce the prevalence of Lyme disease.Nantucket Island is the area proposed for the study, which has been years in development. Martha’s Vineyard is also under consideration. Researchers hope to find out if they can break the transmission cycle between ticks and white-footed mice—the primary carriers of Lyme disease. Ticks typically become carriers of the Lyme bacterium by biting infected mice, and then they pass it on to other mice as well as humans. Reductions in the number of infected ticks should, therefore, result in reduced human infections, according to the theory.
First U.S. Open-Air Test of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Deemed a Success
21786S. Kuta, Smithosonian Magazine, 2022-04-21 06:47:16.
A private company that released genetically modified mosquitoes into the open air of the Florida Keys last spring says the experiment was a success, reports Emily Waltz for Nature. Oxitec, a United Kingdom-based biotech firm initially founded at Oxford University, released the bugs in an effort to curb wild mosquito populations. The company has not yet published data from the experiment, but representatives said during a webinar earlier this month that the results were promising. Oxitec had already tested the genetically modified mosquitoes in the field in Brazil, Panama, the Cayman Islands and Malaysia, according to Nature, but this was the first open-air trial of genetically modified mosquitoes in the United States.
Trojan trout: could turning an invasive fish into a ‘super-male’ save a native species?
21823J. Miller, The Guardian, 2022-04-21 06:11:45.
Brook trout may greatly outnumber the Rio Grande cutthroat here, but nearly every brookie the team captures is male. That’s because many are a lab-produced variety known as “Trojan” brook trout. They are unique in that they carry not one, but two copies of the Y chromosome that codes maleness; they have no X chromosome to pass on. Since 2018, various streams across the Vermejo reserve have been stocked with this strain in an attempt to tilt the brook trout sex ratio so far male that eventually the population will stop breeding and die out on its own. Similar efforts are under way in a handful of creeks in Idaho, Washington and Oregon, and Nevada plans to embark on its own stocking programme this summer. Until now, the main tool to eliminate invasive fish species has been the potent chemical rotenone. The trouble is that “it also kills all the other fish, including the ones you are trying to conserve,” says Colleen Caldwell, a professor of fish and wildlife at New Mexico State University and a principal investigator overseeing the Leandro Creek project.
Genetically modified mosquitoes for controlling vector-borne diseases? Successful trial gives hope
21821T. Deol, Down To Earth, 2022-04-21 06:07:50.
Preliminary results of an open-air study of genetically engineered mosquitoes — with an aim to suppress a wild population of virus-carrying mosquitoes — in the United States have shown promising results. The aim of the experiment by Oxitec, a United Kingdom-based biotechnology firm, is to reduce the population of wild Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that is a vector for viruses such as chikungunya, dengue, zika and yellow fever. The scientists engineered a gene that will kill the female offspring. The results, achieved after a decade-long fight for public acceptance and regulatory approvals, are not enough. Larger studies are needed to understand whether the goal can be achieved or not. Their findings, yet to be published, were released during a webinar on 6 April. The experiment began in April 2021 in the Florida Keys but not without resistance from the residents. Their concerns ranged from the modified mosquitoes harming people, its impact on mosquito-eating species and other unintended consequences such as the emergence of a deadly virus.
Release of genetically modified mosquitoes created to fight disease a success: Biotech firm
21818C. Greenberg, National Post, 2022-04-20 06:03:19.
The release of genetically modified mosquitoes in the United States created to fight disease has gone according to plan, biotechnology firm Oxitec says.The first phase of the pilot study consisted of releasing almost 5 million modified Aedes aegypti male mosquitoes in the Florida Keys, a group of islands off the southern tip of Florida, in April 2021. The results indicated that the method may eventually succeed in eradicating or downsizing the number of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Aedes aegypti only make up 4 per cent of the mosquito population in the Keys, but are responsible for spreading yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus, Oxitec said during an online seminar revealing their findings on April 6. “The mosquito is very difficult to control. It likes to live around people, in houses, under houses,” said Andrea Leal, executive director of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District. “We’re also seeing an increase in resistance to a number of our adulticide products that we use for mosquito control, so at the end of it, we’re looking for new tools to put in our toolbox to help us control this particular mosquito.”
Tests of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Prove Positive
21816R. Ellis, WebMD, 2022-04-20 05:59:18.
The first open-air study of genetically modified mosquitoes in the United States has yielded positive results, says Oxitec, the UK-based company that ran the study. However, Oxitec says larger tests are needed to determine whether the insects can suppress the disease-spreading mosquito population in the wild, according to Nature. Dengue, Zika, and yellow fever are some of the diseases the experiments hope to reduce. Scientists at Oxitec mass produced and genetically modified male Aedes aegypti mosquito eggs in a lab. The males were released into the wild to mate with females and pass along a gene designed to kill the female offspring, which are the only ones that bite and spread the diseases. The male offspring live on.
Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Work as Intended
21814M. L. Ford, NEWSER, 2022-04-19 05:54:33.
Results are in from a pilot study in Florida, where millions of genetically engineered mosquitoes were released into the wild. Some referred to it as the “Jurassic Park” experiment when it was announced last year, but—so far—everything is going to plan, according to UK biotech firm Oxitec. Per Nature, the experiment is part of a long-term plan to develop new tools in the fight against the invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito, which can carry dengue, Zika, and other gnarly viruses. Genetically modified male mosquitoes were released into the wild to mate with the local females; as hoped, affected female offspring died before reaching adulthood, and male offspring carried the engineered gene. By the way, the engineered males and their offspring do not bite humans. Ultimately, the hope is to suppress if not eradicate A. aegypti; however, this phase was focused on ensuring that the method works. In addition to preventing reproduction, the gene was successfully passed to succeeding generations of males for three months, and then it disappeared from the local population. Oxitec’s work is EPA-approved, and it works closely with state wildlife agencies. Similar experiments will soon begin in California. “I like the way they’re going about it,” Thomas Scott, an entomologist at UC-Davis, told Nature. “They’re doing it in a systematic, thoughtful way. So I’m encouraged.”
Biotech firm announces results from first US trial of genetically modified mosquito
21775E. Waltz, Nature, 2022-04-18 08:09:34.
Researchers have completed the first open-air study of genetically engineered mosquitoes in the United States. The results, according to the biotechnology firm running the experiment, are positive. But larger tests are still needed to determine whether the insects can achieve the ultimate goal of suppressing a wild population of potentially virus-carrying mosquitoes. The experiment has been underway since April 2021 in the Florida Keys, a chain of tropical islands near the southern tip of Florida. Oxitec, which developed the insects, released nearly five million engineered Aedes aegypti mosquitoes over the course of seven months, and has now almost completed monitoring the release sites. Based in Abingdon, UK, the firm reported the first results from the experiment during a webinar on 6 April, although it has not yet published the data.
Potential Adverse Effects of GE Mosquitoes Unknown
21773B. Giuffre, The Epoch Times, 2022-04-17 08:04:34.
“Safe and sustainable.” That’s what Oxitec, a British biological pest control company, calls its genetically modified (GM) or genetically engineered (GE) mosquito pesticide product. The company claims its product is nontoxic to humans and animals and won’t harm beneficial insects such as bees and butterflies. The experiment’s goal is to test the use of GE mosquitoes for reducing the transmission of diseases such as dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever. The method of action is post-CRISPR, but uses similar gene engineering technology—inserting a double whammy into the Aedes aegypti male mosquito: a lethal gene and a fluorescent gene (for tracking). “The goal here is not to kill mosquitoes,” said epidemiologist Thomas Scott of the GE mosquito projects in Science magazine, “It’s to prevent people from getting infected and sick and dying.”
The plan to release genetically engineered mosquitoes in California
21703M. Petersen, Phys Org, 2022-04-12 08:50:04.
In the mosquito breeding rooms of British biotech company Oxitec, scientists line up fresh eggs, each the size of a grain of salt. Using microscopic needles, the white-coated researchers inject each egg with a dab of a proprietary synthetic DNA. For four days, Oxitec technicians care for the eggs, watching for those that hatch into wriggling brown larvae. Those "injection survivors," as the company calls them, face a battery of tests to ensure their genetic modification is successful. Soon, millions of these engineered mosquitoes could be set loose in California in an experiment recently approved by the federal government. Oxitec, a private company, says its genetically modified bugs could help save half the world's population from the invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito, which can spread diseases such as yellow fever, chikungunya and dengue to humans. Female offspring produced by these modified insects will die, according to Oxitec's plan, causing the population to collapse. "Precise. Environmentally sustainable. Non-toxic," the company says on its website of its product trademarked as the "Friendly" mosquito.
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