Gene Drive Technology in the News
Genetic discovery advances insect pest control worldwide
Tags: North America, Pest management, Sterile insect technique (SIT)IAEA, Phys.org, 2025.
An international research team led by Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) and the Joint FAO/IAEA Center of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture has identified the gene responsible for a temperature-sensitive lethality (tsl) phenotype in the Mediterranean fruit fly, ...
The goal of eliminating malaria by 2030 is in jeopardy
Tags: Africa, MalariaAfrican Media Agency, African Newspage, 2025.
Africa could see 554,000 additional malaria deaths due to climate change, unless urgent action is taken. The goal of eliminating malaria by 2030 is in jeopardy, as climate change, population growth, and funding shortfalls converge to reverse hard-won gains over the past decade. ...
Create legal path for gene drive mosquitoes, experts say
Tags: Africa, Gene drive, Mosquitoes, Policy, Regulation, Stakeholder engagementSamwel Doe Ouma, The Star, 2025.
As Africa continues to shoulder the global burden of malaria, scientists and policy experts say gene drive technology could offer a groundbreaking solution. But without clear regulatory frameworks and strong community engagement, its deployment could be delayed, risking further ...
Rollins presses ahead with latest initiative on New World screwworm
Tags: Ecology, North America, Pest management, PolicyHPJ staff, High Plains Journal, 2025.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins on June 18 announced an $8.5 million sterile New World screwworm fly dispersal facility in south Texas and a five-pronged plan to enhance the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ability to detect, control and eliminate the pest. In a ...
Strengthening gene drive research in Africa through engagement, regulation, and regional cooperation
Tags: Africa, Gene drive, Regulation, Stakeholder engagementDickson W. Lwetoijera, Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research, 2025.
On the sidelines of this year’s World Health Assembly, I had the opportunity to speak on a panel exploring the role of genomics in public health. The event, supported by the Science Summit, brought together researchers, regulators, and policymakers to examine how genomic ...
Drones To Deliver Millions Of Mosquitoes to Prevent Bird Extinctions In Hawai‘i
Tags: Genetic incompatibilities, Incompatible insect technique, North America, WolbachiaGrrlScientist, Forbes, 2025.
In a brilliant demonstration of multidisciplinary collaboration, a conservation program to save Hawai’i’s critically endangered native bird species has taken another step forward. After a team of scientists created “reproductively incompatible” male mosquitoes in the lab, ...
Battle of the mosquitoes
Tags: Genetically modified mosquitoes, Malaria, MosquitoesAdepoju, P, Nature Medicine, 2025.
The mosquito was frozen in place. Its tiny body, no longer buzzing, lay still on the cold metal surface, caught in a moment of stasis. A few minutes earlier, it had been active, darting around Oxitec’s research facility, a modified version of nature’s most dangerous killer. ...
Unlocking Gene Drive in Agriculture
Tags: Agriculture, Gene drive, Genetic engineeringSarah Lee, Number Analytics, 2025.
Gene drive is a revolutionary genetic engineering technique that has the potential to transform the field of agricultural biotechnology. In this section, we will explore the definition, mechanism, and history of gene drive technology, as well as its potential applications in ...
The Future of Gene Drive in Farming
Tags: Agriculture, Ecology, Gene driveSarah Lee, Number Analytics, 2025.
The advent of gene drive technology has opened up new avenues for transforming farming practices, improving crop yields, and promoting sustainability. Gene drive is a genetic engineering technique that allows for the rapid spread of a particular gene or trait through a ...
We finally may be able to rid the world of mosquitoes. But should we?
Tags: Ethics, Gene drive, MosquitoesDino Grandoni, Wall Street Journal, 2025.
They buzz, they bite, and they cause some of the deadliest diseases known to humanity. Mosquitoes are perhaps the planet’s most universally reviled animals. If we could zap them off the face of the Earth, should we? The question is no longer hypothetical. In recent years, ...
Should we wipe out the pests now that we can?
Tags: Ethics, Pest managementMiguel Ángel Criado, El Pais, 2025.
Felicola (Lorisicola) isidoroi is a creature that is probably either extinct or on the verge of being so. In the past, it must have been present throughout most of the Iberian Peninsula, but the last time scientists encountered one was in 1997. For biologists, this represents a ...
Screwworm Fly: US Threat & Prevention
Tags: Genetic engineering, Pest management, South/Central AmericaNews Directory 3, 2025.
A resurgence of the New World screwworm, a parasite known for consuming living flesh, is raising alarms in the U.S.cattle industry. For seven decades, the United States has waged an aerial war against this pest, scientifically known as C.hominivorax, which ...
Advances in Sterile Insect Technique Driven by Sugarcane Pest Management in South Africa
Tags: Africa, Pest management, South Africa, Sterile insect technique (SIT)Lawrence N. Malinga, Ph.D., and Samara Singh, Entomology Today, 2025.
Eldana saccharina, also known as the African sugarcane stalk borer, is an insect pest indigenous to Africa that targets gramineous crops such as sugarcane, maize (corn), sorghum, and millet in several countries, including Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, and ...
Mosquito Miracle: Breakthrough Brings Hope for Bangladesh in Dengue Fight
Tags: Aedes, Asia, Mosquitoes, Population modification/replacement, Population suppression, WolbachiaStaff Correspondent, Digi Bangla Tech, 2025.
A major scientific breakthrough is offering new hope for Bangladesh in its battle against dengue. An international team of researchers has successfully developed a strain of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria, which are capable of adapting to the local ...
Gene drive could reshape the malaria fight and young people must be at the centre
Tags: Africa, Gene drive, MalariaDr. Phillip Chigiya, African Leaders Malaria Alliance, 2025.
The only time I was ever admitted overnight in hospital was when I was five years old. I had malaria. I still remember the strange chill of the sheets, the IV line taped to my small hand, and my mother at my bedside, watching me breathe. That moment has never left me. Since ...
Uganda grapples with malaria burden amidst promising innovations
Tags: Africa, Gene drive, Malaria, Target malariaInnocent Lawrence Okima, The Independent, 2025.
According to the report, Uganda, with a population of close to fifty million people, accounts for 5% of the world’s malaria cases and 3% of malaria-related deaths. Astonishingly, according to page 151 of the report, Uganda leads the East and Southern African countries with 23% ...
World Malaria Day: Renewing our commitment to end malaria in Africa
Tags: Africa, Malaria, PolicyDamaris Matoke-Muhia, Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research, 2025.
As the world marks World Malaria Day this week, we are reminded that malaria remains one of the oldest and deadliest diseases in human history. Despite decades of global effort, it continues to claim half a million lives each year. The overwhelming majority of these deaths ...
Innovative video game brings gene drive technology to life in Africa’s fight against malaria
Tags: Gene drive, Stakeholder engagement, Target malariaAfrican Media Agency, Business Ghana, 2025.
Ahead of World Malaria Day, Target Malaria, a not-for-profit research consortium pioneering genetic technologies for malaria control, hosted a live demonstration this month of its educational video game, Target Malaria: The Game. This interactive tool is reshaping how science ...
Bridging the gap: Effective communication strategies for genetic biocontrol technologies
Tags: Africa, Genetic biocontrol, Stakeholder engagementCaroline Thuo, African Genetic Biocontrol Consortium, 2025.
The 2nd Global Congress on Genetic Biocontrol Technologies took place from March 17-20, in Accra, Ghana. The Congress was jointly organized by the African Genetic Biocontrol Consortium, Ghana’s National Biosafety Authority and the Foundation for the National Institutes of ...
Genetically modified mosquitoes released in the US: How they can prevent disease outbreaks
Tags: Aedes, Dengue, Gene drive, Genetically modified mosquitoes, Mosquitoes, North AmericaTOI Lifestyle Desk, Times of India, 2025.
The menace of mosquito-borne illnesses is growing in the US and the contributing factors range from climate change to their expanding habitats. The solution could lie in genetically modified mosquitoes that hold the capability to effectively control mosquito populations. ...
Experts: One Health approach to help combat zoonotic diseases in Africa
Tags: Africa, Ecology, PolicyMilliam Murigi, People Daily, 2025.
If African countries are to successfully combat zoonotic diseases, human health, animal health, and environmental health must be treated as one interconnected system. This was revealed in Accra, Ghana, during the second global congress on new and emerging genetic biocontrol ...
AUDA-NEPAD launches the 2nd edition APET report on gene drives for malaria control and elimination
Tags: Africa, Gene drive, Policy, Regulation, Target malariaCharles Mugoya, Target Malaria, 2025.
With support from the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), the African Union published its 1st APET report in 2018 which noted that that, while the existing mosquito control interventions have significantly reduced the burden of malaria across Africa, complementary new ...
Stowers scientists uncover principles underlying the toxicity of “selfish” genes
Tags: Selfish genetic elements, Toxin-antidoteStowers Institute for Medical Research, PRNewswire, 2025.
Lurking within the genomes of nearly all species—including plants, fungi, and even humans—are genes that are passed from generation to generation with no clear benefit to the organism. Called "selfish" genes, they can sometimes be harmful or even lethal. A recent study from ...
Exploring the ecology of malaria mosquitoes in São Tomé and Príncipe
Tags: Africa, Anopheles, Malaria, Modeling, MosquitoesLisa Chamberland, Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research, 2025.
As part of our work to develop new genetic approaches for malaria control, the University of California Malaria Initiative (UCMI) is studying mosquito movement and breeding patterns in São Tomé and Príncipe. In a study published last year, we investigated the dispersal ...
Ghana committed to exploring gene drive to combat malaria – Minister
Tags: Africa, Gene drive, Malaria, PolicyGhana News Agency, 2025.
Ghana has expressed interest in exploring gene drive technology as a new approach to combatting malaria. The country is open to adopting technology that is cost-effective, efficient, harmless and has the potential to significantly reduce malaria transmission, especially in areas ...
Monitoring Gene Drives: A Living Literature Review on Gene Drive Research
Tags: Gene driveInternational Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Monitoring Gene Drives, 2025.
Literature reviews have always been essential for summarizing the current state of a research field. However, in areas that evolve rapidly—like gene drive technology—traditional reviews can become outdated quickly. While peer-reviewed research is invaluable for pinpointing ...
Ghana hosts 2nd Global Congress on new, emerging genetic biocontrol technologies
Tags: Africa, Genetic biocontrol, Policy, Regulation, Stakeholder engagementAma Kudom-Agyemang, EnviroNews Nigeria, 2025.
From Monday, March 17 to Thursday, March 20, 2025, Ghana is hosting a gathering of science, health and communication experts to deliberate on and contribute to innovative scientific exploits for Africa’s health sector. The over 150 African national and international ...
Gene drive modified mosquitoes offer new tool for malaria elimination efforts
Tags: Africa, Gene drive, Malaria, PolicyConrad Duncan, Imperial, 2025.
Transmission Zero, a research team from Imperial College London in partnership with the Ifakara Health Institute and the National Institute of Medical Research in Tanzania, has developed genetic technology which renders a mosquito unable to transmit the malaria parasite and has a ...
Making sex deadly for insects could control pests that carry disease and harm crops
Tags: Genetically modified organisms, Mosquitoes, Population suppression, Risk and safetyBill Sullivan, The Conversation, 2025.
Insects do a lot more harm than ruining picnics. Some insects spread devastating diseases, while others cause staggering economic losses in agriculture. To control some of these pests, scientists are developing males that make sex a deadly event. The stakes are high. Mosquitoes ...
A Gene Drive with a Disappearing Act Can Aid Pest Control
Tags: CRISPR, Gene drive, Gene editing, Resistance, Self limitingShelby Bradford, PhD, The Scientist, 2025.
Geneticists developed a gene drive that reverts insecticide-resistant mutations in insects, using a system that gradually eliminates itself from the genome. This breakthrough offers a potential solution to combat insecticide resistance without permanently altering species, and ...
Progress made for blackchin tilapia control in Thailand
Tags: Agriculture, Asia, Ecology, Invasive speciesThe Fish Site, 2025.
Despite tilapia being one of the most widely farmed fish in the global aquaculture industry, invasive populations of the blackchin tilapia - a cichlid native to West Africa - have been devastating the productivity of aquaculture operations throughout Thailand. However, a ...
Uganda expands genetically modified mosquito survey in Mukono, Kalangala islands
Tags: Africa, Genetically modified mosquitoes, Malaria, Stakeholder engagement, Target malariaDavid Ssekayinga, Monitor, 2025.
The Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) has extended its research on the behaviour of genetically modified mosquitoes to more islands on Lake Victoria. The two islands where similar research will be conducted are Sselinya in Kalangala District and Koome in Mukono District. ...
Dissecting The Sterility Phenotype Of Drosophila Suzukii Males
Tags: Fruit fly, Pest management, Sterile insect technique (SIT)Evrim Ağacı, The Pinnacle Gazette, 2025.
Groundbreaking findings on gene-edited males provide insights for pest management strategies. Researchers have made significant strides in controlling the invasive fruit pest Drosophila suzukii, commonly known as the spotted wing drosophila, utilizing innovative genetic ...
Selfish Genetic Elements and Meiotic Drive in Drosophila
Tags: Fruit fly, Selfish genetic elements, Sex distorterNature Research Intelligence, 2025.
Selfish genetic elements are segments of DNA that can enhance their own transmission to the next generation, often at a cost to the organism's overall fitness. In Drosophila, or fruit flies, these elements can lead to a phenomenon known as meiotic drive, where certain alleles are ...
Gene Drive Technology Offers Hope For Malaria Vector Control
Tags: CRISPR, Gene drive, Malaria, Population suppression, Vector controlEvrim Ağacı, The Pinnacle Gazette, 2025.
A team of scientists has developed an innovative gene drive targeting Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes, a key malaria vector in urban areas. Their strategy uses CRISPR technology to disrupt the doublesex (dsx) gene, crucial for female fertility, thereby reducing mosquito ...
Genetically Engineered Male Insects Shorten Their Mates’ Lifespans
Tags: Fruit fly, Genetic biocontrol, Mosquito husbandry, Mosquitoes, Population suppression, Vector controlSneha Khedkar, The Scientist, 2025.
On a still night, as the air is thick with silence, the sharp, whining buzz of a mosquito shatters the calm. These blood-sucking insects that disturb people’s deep slumber are also responsible for spreading diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, malaria and Zika fever, which ...
‘Toxic Male Technique’ promises faster biocontrol of mosquito populations
Tags: Biological control, Genetic engineering, Mosquitoes, Sterile insect technique (SIT)Macquarie University, Phys.org, 2025.
A new biological pest control method that targets the lifespan of female insects could significantly reduce the threat of insect pests such as disease-carrying mosquitoes by offering faster and more effective results than current methods. Described in Nature Communications, the ...
Genetically modified mosquitoes could soon be released in one Australian state: everything you need to know
Tags: Genetically modified mosquitoes, OceaniaMaddison Leach, 9 News, 2025.
Mosquito-borne diseases like dengue fever cause hundreds of thousands of deaths every year and a new venture wants to change that by introducing genetically modified mosquitoes (GMMs) right here in Australia. That venture is Oxitec Australia, a collaboration between the ...
Kenya Set to Introduce GMO Maize After Public Consultation Period
Tags: Africa, Agriculture, Policy, RegulationMartin Olage, Mwakilishi, 2025.
The National Biosafety Authority (NBA) has completed a month-long public consultation regarding the potential market introduction of Genetically Modified (GM) maize, specifically known as BT Maize. This consultation, initiated in mid-December after an official notice on December ...
A Tiny but Mighty Helper Stops Mosquito Viruses in Their Tracks
Mariella Bodemeier Loayza Careaga, The Scientist, 2024.Luciano Moreira, a vector biologist and the project lead of the World Mosquito Program in Brazil, has always been driven by solving people’s problems. As a kid, he concocted blends of house-cleaning products to eliminate common home pests; in adulthood, Moreira channeled his ...
Healthcare delivery in Africa still a big challenge, health experts warn
Tags: Africa, Policy, RegulationKBC News, 2024.
The adoption or harnessing of emerging technologies in the healthcare system in Africa to improve healthcare delivery remains low. It is reported that while the continent forms 18% of the global population, Africa accounts for 25% of the global diseases. Though there are ...
Genetic study solves the mystery of ‘selfish’ B chromosomes in rye
Tags: Chromosomal drive, Selfish genetic elementsLeibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Phys.org, 2024.
Some chromosomes, such as B chromosomes, can increase their inheritance rate to their own advantage. These extra chromosomes are found in many plants, animals, and fungi and rely upon various strategies to avoid being eliminated over time, as most organisms tend to remove ...
Man Vs. Mosquito
Tags: Arbovirus, Gene editing, Mosquitoes, WolbachiaAman Vora, Brown Political Review, 2024.
It is a middle school math teacher’s favorite trivia question: What is the world’s deadliest animal? After images of a hunting tiger or towering gorilla flash through our imagination, we remember that it is the humble mosquito, whose terrible impact on human lives and ...
Using genomics to find solutions to malaria
Tags: Africa, Gene drive, Malaria, Selfish genetic elements, Target malariaMorgan Morris, Nature Africa, 2024.
Joel Odero’s experiences of malaria is wide and deep. Growing up in a village in Kenya, he not only contracted the disease numerous times, but was all too familiar with the relentless daily regimen of spraying insecticides and checking malaria nets were not ripped. Decades ...
Russia’s Latest Target in Africa: U.S.-Funded Anti-Malaria Programs
Tags: Africa, Ethics, Risk and safety, Stakeholder engagement, Target malariaElian Peltier, The New York Times, 2024.
The scientists sifting through thousands of genetically modified mosquito larvae in a laboratory in Burkina Faso were trying to stop the spread of malaria, one of the biggest killers on the African continent. But in the pro-Russian propaganda telling of their work, the ...
A viral gene drive could offer a new approach to fighting herpes
Tags: Gene drive, Gene drive mechanismsMeghan Rosen, ScienceNews, 2024.
The words “herpes” and “spread” in the same sentence don’t typically spell good news. Unless, that is, you’re talking about a busybody new virus. That virus includes designer DNA called a gene drive that spreads from one herpes simplex virus to another. And it may be ...
Exploring new tools to fight vector-borne diseases: research and governance implications
Tags: Europe, Governance, Policy, Target malaria, Vector controlAlekos Simoni, Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research, 2024.
I recently had the honor and pleasure of attending an event co-organized by the Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research at the European Parliament in Brussels, and delivering a presentation on our work at Target Malaria to develop new genetic tools to reduce malaria ...
Professor Abdoulaye Diabaté’s frank conversation with Bill Gates
Tags: Africa, Gene drive, Stakeholder engagement, Target malariaAfrican Media Agency, 2024.
On October 2, 2024, Professor Abdoulaye Diabaté, a prominent figure in malaria research and Head of Medical Entomology at Burkina Faso’s Research Institute in Health Sciences, gained international attention by appearing in the Netflix documentary series "What’s Next? The ...
10 myths and misconceptions around modified mosquitoes
Tags: Aedes, Genetically modified mosquitoes, Malaria, South/Central AmericaMilliam Murigi, k24, 2024.
In the fight against mosquito-borne diseases, scientists have turned to groundbreaking genetic technologies to reduce disease transmission. However, Genetically Modified (GM) mosquitoes have raised concerns and sparked myths and misconceptions around it. Abraham Isah, OFAB ...
The ultra-selfish gene
Tags: CRISPR, Gene drive, Malaria, Selfish genetic elementsMathias Kirk Bonde, Works in Progress, 2024.
Almost every cell in our bodies contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, which are packages of the DNA and genes that provide the code for producing living things. Sperm and egg cells, however, each contain only one set of chromosomes. This set of chromosomes has been recombined from ...
