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This is a database of print and digital media coverage of gene drive technologies and genetic biocontrol-related topics. This database is intended to serve experts and non-experts by capturing how gene drive/genetic biocontrol technologies and issues around the technologies are being represented, discussed, debated and evaluated by the public.

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Genetically modified mice could fight Lyme disease in Massachusetts

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Dave Puglisi,  7News,  2026-01-29 10:43:05. Link
Tiny insects are spreading a devastating disease. Scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) believe they’ve discovered something that could help stop Lyme disease before it starts. “The right side of my body went numb. I felt disoriented. My heart was racing,” said Brandi Dean. Dean thought what she was experiencing was a stroke but it was actually the start of a 10-year battle with Lyme disease. “It’s a devastating illness, emotionally, physically, and financially,” she said. The illness began with a tick bite that spread bacteria throughout her body. “I was really struggling to just survive every day and to take care of my kids,” said Dean. Brandi pushed through muscle pain, dizziness and exhaustion so severe she couldn’t walk down the stairs. “I would literally scoot down each stair. I had very little energy to walk,” said Dean. “It was frightening at that time.” Doctor Sam Telford, a professor of infectious disease and global health at Tufts University, has studied ticks for more than 40-years. He says mice are a perfect host for several diseases ticks can spread. “They’re very good hosts for the bacteria. They suffer no disease from having the bacteria,” said Telford. “They pass it back-and-forth and us humans are collateral damage.”

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Out-of-the-Box Innovations Against Malaria

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Foreign Policy,  2025-11-06 17:34:40. Link
Malaria kills nearly 600,000 people every year, with 95 percent of deaths occurring in Africa. Most of them are children under the age of 5. While progress on curbing malaria has flattened in recent years, new scientific breakthroughs may bring the world closer than ever not only to controlling malaria outbreaks but potentially also to eradicating the disease. In this episode, we focus on the best mosquito control strategies to eliminate malaria. Host Henry Bonsu interviews Fredros Okumu, a professor at the University of Glasgow in Scotland and a scientist at Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania. His research evaluates many of the latest tools to combat malaria, including next-generation insecticide bed nets, indoor residual sprays, and spatial repellants, also known as spatial emanators. Then, reporter Paul Adepoju talks to scientists from the U.K.- and Tanzania-based Transmission Zero project. They have developed genetically modified mosquitoes that could dramatically reduce the transmission of malaria. Adepoju speaks with Dickson Wilson Lwetoijera, a leading entomologist also at the Ifakara Health Institute, as well as Nikolai Windbichler from Imperial College London, who leads the molecular genetics side of the Transmission Zero project.

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2nd Edition Report: Gene Drives for Malaria Control and Elimination in Africa

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African Union High-Level Panel on Emerging Technologies, APET Secretariat,  2025-03-12 16:43:52. Link
Malaria continues to impose a significant economic and public health burden on Africa. In 2021, the continent accounted for 95% of the global 247 million new malaria cases and 96% of the 619,000 malaria-related deaths. Notably, over three-quarters (77%) of these deaths occurred among children under the age of five. At present, ten countries—Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda, and the United Republic of Tanzania—have been classified as High Burden, High Impact (HBHI) nations, collectively contributing to 68% of all malaria cases and 70% of malaria-related fatalities globally. Furthermore, approximately 1,031,000,000 individuals across Africa are estimated to be at risk of contracting malaria. Extensive studies have consistently demonstrated a strong correlation between economic development rates and the burden of malaria, underscoring malaria’s role as a critical impediment to economic progress. The direct economic costs of malaria are substantial, placing immense strain on the limited resources of the affected African nations. Countries severely burdened by malaria exhibit Gross Domestic Products (GDPs) that are up to five times lower than those of malaria-free nations. The annual economic growth loss in endemic countries is estimated at 1.3%, equating to as much as US$12 billion in lost productivity. Moreover, malaria contributes to between 5-8% of school absenteeism among African children and causes an additional 2.4 to 6.5 days of absenteeism per student. The costs associated with malaria prevention and treatment further highlight the economic challenge. The annual cost of protecting one individual against malaria ranges from US$1.18 to US$5.97 through vector control measures. Diagnosis costs have a median of US$6, while treatment costs for each case vary depending on severity, ranging from US$9 to US$89.93. As such, malaria remains the foremost public health priority in Africa, with the costs of treatment and disease prevention far exceeding the financial capacities of most African governments. A further pressing concern is the recent introduction and establishment of Anopheles stephensi, a species of mosquito that poses a significant threat to the Horn of Africa and beyond. This invasive species, which tends to bite outdoors, could exacerbate the existing malaria burden and undermine the gains made in malaria control over the past two decades. The global response to malaria control heavily relies on donor funding, which is currently only sufficient to meet half of the required global funding targets. This reliance on external financing is unsustainable and highly vulnerable to shifts in political priorities in donor countries. Approximately a quarter of the global malaria funding is directed to Africa for the provision of insecticide-treated nets, rapid diagnostic tests, and medicines, while national funding should cover the operating costs of the broader health sector. Existing malaria control measures, including the use of Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs), Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS), and Larval Source Management (LSM), have demonstrated limited effectiveness, especially against the newly introduced invasive mosquito species. This underscores the necessity for the development and adoption of innovative mosquito control approaches, such as Attractive Targeted Sugar Bait (ATSB), Endocticides, Improved Housing, Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), and Paratransgenesis. Research into these methods is ongoing, and their potential for improving malaria control strategies is considerable. To supplement existing malaria control efforts, innovative technologies like Gene Drive present promising long-term solutions to protect the most vulnerable populations and address the malaria burden in Africa. The African Union (AU) has recognised the potential of Gene Drive technology and has endorsed its development, with support from the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD). This initiative aims to foster conducive environments for research, develop regulatory frameworks, and engage stakeholders across African Union Member States, ensuring a collaborative approach to the ongoing fight against malaria.

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Genetically modified mosquitoes could combat deadly diseases, scientists say

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The Sydney Morning Herald,  2025-01-13 15:25:27. Link
Genetically modified mosquitoes could be the solution to stopping deadly diseases spread by mosquito bites, scientists say.

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Should We Unleash GMO Mosquitoes?

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Brooke Borel and Anna Rothschild,  Entanglements,  2024-12-16 14:26:29. Link
In this episode of Entanglements, hosts Brooke Borel and Anna Rothschild discuss the ethics and risks of genetically modified (GMO) mosquitoes. They explore differing expert opinions, focusing on technologies like gene drives and sterile males, examining ecological and safety concerns while debating whether releasing GMO insects is ultimately beneficial.

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How genetically engineered mice could stop the spread of Lyme disease

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Cristela Guerra and Stephanie Brown,  WBUR Radio Boston,  2024-12-10 16:36:59. Link
New England has some of the highest rates of Lyme disease in the country. MIT researchers are trying to fight the disease in a project that involves releasing hundreds of thousands of engineered mice onto the shores of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. On Radio Boston, Kevin Esvelt, an associate professor at the MIT Media Lab and the inventor of CRISPR-based gene drive, discusses the project.

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Most advanced gene drive projects

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Gene Drive Monitor,  2024-11-12 17:33:29. Link
This infographic shows the species in which a gene drive has actually been built and is at least partially functional, up to 1 March 2024. Note that gene drives have been proposed in many more species, as shown our taxonomic list of targets here. Along with gene drives it includes sex ratio distorters, a similar genetic technology that also aims to suppress or eliminate populations.

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Mosquito population structure and gene-drive

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Heredity Podcast,  2024-06-04 20:59:37. Link
Gene-drives hold great potential for the control of biological pests, but first they need to be thoroughly tested under appropriate conditions. In this episode we discuss some new work assessing whether mosquito populations in Northern Australia could be used to test a gene-drive targeting malaria mosquitoes.

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Communicating Creatively About Genetically Modified Mosquitoes

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Lorraine Gibson,  Target Malaria,  2023-12-21 15:27:14. Link
In 2018, the Target Malaria team at Imperial College London published a  landmark paper  in Nature Biotechnology. The study demonstrated how gene drive mosquitoes successfully suppressed a population of wild-type malaria mosquitoes, marking a significant milestone for gene drive technology as a tool for malaria elimination.  In our communications team working across Burkina Faso, Ghana, Uganda and the UK, we are exploring different, creative ways to explain the technology and its progress to the general public. By continually expanding our toolkit of science communications tools and embracing innovative approaches, we hope to bridge the gap between scientific advancements and the general public, in particular communities most affected by malaria, fostering understanding and support for our mission to combat malaria.

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Framing Challenges and Opportunities for Canada: Expert Panel on Regulating Gene-Edited Organisms for Pest Control

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CCA (Council of Canadian Academies),  Framing Challenges and Opportunities for Canada,  2023-11-21 11:21:00. Link
Gene-editing technologies are changing approaches to pest management. Rapidly evolving but unproven gene-editing tools could potentially mitigate the impacts of pests in public health, conservation, and agricultural contexts. The use of these tools, however, is accompanied by uncertainties about possible impacts on species and ecosystems, along with broader socioeconomic and cultural risks. Increased globalization and climate change are intensifying pest problems. These factors, combined with the waning effectiveness of many common pest-control tools, will contribute to growing pressure from both native and invasive pests if left unchecked. Opportunities to manage pests with greater effectiveness, lower costs, and increased safety therefore require consideration.

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Worldwide Experts on Gene Drives

Save Our Seeds,  2023-06-28 08:54:11. Link
We are travelling the world speaking to some of the world's leading thinkers, activists and academics on the impact of gene drives. Join us for this video series as we hear from a diverse range of experts on one of the most controversial new emerging technologies that we face.

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Introducing Emerging Health Technologies in Africa

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Health Tech Africa,  Health Tech Africa Podcast,  2023-02-08 14:22:59. Link
In this episode, the Project Director of the Platform for Dialogue and Action on Health Technologies in Africa, Professor Richard Mukabana, discusses new technologies that if well developed and proven safe and effective, have enormous potential to eradicate disease on the continent.

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SHOULD WE CREATE GENE DRIVE GREY SQUIRRELS

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S. Hartley and T. Law,  GeneDriveGovernance.org,  2022-11-09 11:48:04. Link
UK scientists have proposed gene drive as a management tool to control grey squirrels. Now is a good time to talk about this emerging technology because the hopes and concerns of experts, stakeholders and the public can help to determine if or how it might be developed. To help foster this debate, we made a short research film on gene drive grey squirrels. The film draws on our social science research to show the complexity of the problem of grey squirrel control and invites you to think about whether scientists should develop gene drive squirrels or not.

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WORLDWIDE: EXPERTS ON GENE DRIVES

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Stop Gene Drive,  STOP GENE DRIVES,  2022-11-07 09:51:54. Link
We are travelling the world speaking to some of the world’s leading thinkers, activists and academics on the impact of gene drives. We interviewed more than 20 experts from around the world

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How We’re Reducing Disease With Genetically Modified Mosquitoes

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V. Wise,  HealthMatch,  2022-09-29 08:07:21. Link
We all know mosquitoes as those annoying insects we swat away from our faces. They carry diseases, so we don’t want them anywhere near us. There are over 200 types of wild mosquitoes bugging us across America and the U.S. territories. Approximately 12 types can spread disease, but most are “nuisance” mosquitoes, which don’t spread germs. Obviously, it’s hard to identify a tiny flying creature, so we need to keep them all away from us just in case. Aedes aegypti¹ is one of the most common mosquitoes in the U.S. that can spread disease. One of the best-known mosquito-borne diseases is malaria, but Aedes aegypti is associated with 54 viruses². West Nile virus, Zika, and dengue are just three diseases these mosquitoes transmit around the U.S With 1 in 150 people becoming seriously ill due to West Nile virus, sometimes fatally, what can we do to prevent mosquito bites?

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Genetically-Modified Mosquitos Could Soon Be Released in California

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A. Madrigal,  KQED,  2022-04-12 08:31:27. Link
Millions of genetically-modified, non-biting mosquitoes may soon be set loose in California after federal regulators gave the green light to a study aimed at preventing transmission of diseases like Zika and dengue. British biotech firm Oxitech says its technology alters male mosquitos to only produce viable male offspring, leading to population declines as females die off. While it may sound like the plot of a horror movie, the company says the new process is safe and necessary to address the growing global threat of mosquito-borne diseases. But some scientists and other critics say it could create even more virulent mosquitos, among other health and environmental risks. We’ll discuss the plan, which still requires state approval.

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Will genetic modification of mosquitoes take a bite out of insects’ population?

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N. Patel,  KCRW,  2022-04-11 08:58:40. Link
An invasive species of aggressive “ankle biters” called the Aedes aegypti mosquito is now in LA, and it’s spreading quickly. These tiny vampires can lay eggs in a space as small as a water-filled bottle cap, and they carry diseases like yellow fever and dengue. A British company called Oxitec is now trying to eradicate them through genetic modification. Oxitec will release millions of modified mosquitoes that can only produce female offspring that will die. Without an ability to reproduce, the mosquito population will collapse. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted the company a permit to release their modified mosquitoes in San Bernardino, Fresno, Stanislaus, and Tulare Counties.

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An army of genetically engineered mosquitoes is about to be released

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M. Menard,  KNX NEWS,  2022-04-11 08:53:53. Link
A British biotech company has been altering the DNA of mosquitoes with the goal of killing off a more dangerous breed capable of spreading deadly diseases. And now they’re preparing to release their “friendly mosquitoes” into the wild. In California. Aedes aegypti is an invasive breed of mosquito that has been rapidly spreading throughout the state since their first detection about 10 years ago. It is a known carrier of such diseases as yellow fever, chikungunya and dengue.

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Podcast: How do you solve a problem like malaria?

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A. Jha,  The Economist,  2022-04-05 15:01:14. Link
SQUASHING MALARIA could, over the next three decades, save as many lives as covid-19 has taken. We explore new ways to fight infections: from the introduction of the first malaria vaccines, to genetically modified mosquitoes

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The power of gene editing

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The Economist,  The Economist,  2022-03-17 07:27:42. Link
Technologies such as genetic modification and ‘CRISPR’ will cure hereditary diseases, produce disease-resistant crops and enable the breeding of malaria-free mosquitos. But advances bring ethical and practical dilemmas. Genetically modified food is banned in the EU, and doctors worry that screening for genetic diseases may pave the way for more controversial uses, such as creating so-called designer babies. This film looks at the risks and rewards of gene editing.

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Podcast: Malaria Gene Drive

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S. Hartley, S. Neema and C. Opesen,  University of Exeter Business School,  2021-11-25 15:15:30. Link
Professor Sarah Hartley and her two colleagues in Uganda, Stella Neema and Chris Opesen discuss gene drive research for malaria control. Funded by British Academy and Wellcome trust, their work is to understand the social science challenges around the development of this kind of technology and to consider how governance and ethics should be managed when dealing with a scientific breakthrough such as this.

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How An Altered Strand Of DNA Can Cause Malaria-Spreading Mosquitoes To Self-Destruct

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R. Stein,  NPR,  2021-07-28 15:19:15. Link
For the first time, scientists have shown that a new kind of genetic engineering can crash populations of malaria-spreading mosquitoes. In the landmark study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications, researchers placed the genetically modified mosquitoes in a special laboratory that simulated the conditions in sub-Saharan Africa, where they spread the deadly disease.  The male mosquitoes were engineered with a sequence of DNA known as a "gene drive" that can rapidly transmit a deleterious mutation that essentially wipes out populations of the insects.  The goal is to create a powerful new tool to fight malaria, which remains one of the world's most terrible scourges.  "Our study is the first [that] could show that gene-drive technology works under ecologically challenging conditions," says Ruth Muller, an entomologist who led the research at PoloGGB, a high-security lab in Terni, Italy. "This is the big breakthrough that we made with our study."

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Unique effort underway to control deadly mosquitos in Florida Keys

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K. Corso and L. Aguirre,  Local10.com,  2021-07-12 14:48:28. Link
According to the World Health Organization, more than 50% of the world’s population is under the threat of mosquito borne diseases. In South Florida, the Keys are a hot spot for infection and now the first place in the United States for a novel approach to eradicating these deadly insects. A mosquito control effort in the works for over a decade is now off the ground. The Oxitec Project uses genetically modified Aedes Aegypti male mosquitos to mate with females of the Aedes Aegypti species which carry some of the deadliest diseases “Ades Aegypti themselves are responsible for transmitting Yellow Fever, Dengue Fever, Chikungunya, Zika virus, said Andrea Leal, entomologist and executive director of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District. Only the female mosquitos bite so the Oxitec Project targets the female population of the species. “So with this project, we’re releasing males only and they’ve been modified with a female lethal gene which means as they go out and they mate with our wild females, all those female offspring will die,” Leal said.

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West African countries working together to develop framework to regulate genetically engineered mosquitos: Target Malaria

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Anonymous,  Global News,  2021-07-08 19:50:08. Link
Abdoulaye Diabaté, principal investigator for Target Malaria, says West African countries like Burkina Faso, Mali and Benin are working with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) to develop a pan-West African framework to regulate gene drive mosquitos.

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Fighting disease: How are genetically engineered mosquitoes regulated?

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A. Julie,  Global News,  2021-07-08 19:26:36. Link
Mosquitoes have long been associated with the spread of diseases like malaria, dengue fever and the Zika virus. But scientists around the world have been exploring the possibility that mosquitoes could also be key to slowing the spread of disease. By genetically altering the DNA of mosquitoes, scientists hope to prevent them from passing on pathogens to humans and, therefore, control the spread of vector-borne diseases. To some, it is an exciting opportunity that could open up new possibilities in the fight against endemic diseases. But the practice has also raised questions from some in the scientific and environmental communities about the impact on local ecosystems, and the ripple effects such modifications could have on the mosquito populations themselves.

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The (Losing) Battle Against Mosquitoes In Texas

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J. Clayton,  Texas Public Radio,  2021-06-26 14:13:20. Link
Jerry Clayton: Mosquitoes are a fact of life in Texas, and the battle against the pesky biting insects is never ending. But there are some new weapons on the horizon. Zach Adleman is an associate professor of entomology at Texas A&M University. He joins us today. Thanks for being here, Zach.

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Genetically Modified Mosquitoes; ‘Truth Like Oil’ Novel

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Here and Now,  WBUR,  2021-06-16 15:10:42. Link
Florida Keys officials are working on a unique experiment: hatching thousands of genetically modified mosquitos and releasing them. Andrea Leal of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District explains.

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Genetically modified mosquitoes and Africa

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S. Bagcchi,  Sci Dev Net,  2021-06-02 20:30:12. Link
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released new guidance for the deployment of genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes to combat vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue. GM mosquitoes may carry a gene that kills female progeny and the technology can be used against the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses. For malaria, genetic modification has focused on reducing the ability of the female Anopheles mosquito to carry the parasite that causes the disease. The WHO guidance, released this month, relates to research and development of GM mosquitoes as well as issues around effectiveness, safety, affordability and ethics. GDN awards advert finalised Presently, measures against mosquito vectors include the use of insecticides and elimination of the breeding spots of mosquito larva, said the guidance, developed in partnership with WHO collaborators such as the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases and the GeneConvene Global Collaborative.

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Genetically modified mosquitoes; WHO issues new guidance for research

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DTE Staff,  Down To Earth,  2021-05-20 15:10:16. Link
Genetically-modified mosquitoes or GMMs have been used across the world to control mosquitoes. GMMs have been able to bring down the population of the Aedes aegypti by 90 per cent in countries like Brazil, the Cayman Islands, Panama and Malaysia. But there have never been any global protocols or standards on the breeding of GMMs. The World Health Organization has addressed this by setting essential standards for the research and development of GMMs. These standards are mainly about ethics, safety, affordability and effectiveness of GMMS. GMMs are male mosquitoes modified to carry a lethal gene. When they mate, the genes get passed on to their offspring. The gene prevents female offspring from building an essential protein and causes them to die before reaching maturity. GMMs could become a cost-effective and powerful tool to control mosquitoes. Over 40,000 people die from malaria and 100-400 million people get infected with dengue each year. They can reach mosquito populations and mosquito larval breeding sites that are currently expensive and difficult to reach. It can target specific mosquito species and thus avoid the ecological and environmental hazards of usual insecticides.

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Burkina Faso Testing Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to Curb Malaria

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H. Wilkins,  Voice of America,  2021-05-20 15:06:44. Link
The mosquito-borne disease malaria kills more than 400,000 people each year, the vast majority in Africa. Target Malaria, an international group of scientists, is working in Burkina Faso on a genetic solution. Abdoulaye Diabate, with the West African country’s Research Institute for Science and Health, said the objective of Target Malaria is to develop a genetic control tool specifically applied to mosquitoes to be able to drastically reduce or eliminate the density of mosquitoes.  The scientists are genetically modifying mosquitoes so their offspring will be only male, and any females they mate with after release will also produce just males. Since only female mosquitoes spread malaria, the disease should drop off quickly along with their population. In village of Bana, where the genetically modified mosquitoes were first tested in 2019, locals were initially worried about the experiment. Kiesiara Sanou, a Bana village elder, said that at the beginning, people thought the survey would release mosquitoes in the village that could cause more diseases. But since working with Target Malaria, they’ve come to understand exactly what the purpose is and now even help them with tasks like collecting the mosquitoes. Genetically modified mosquitoes are just one malaria solution that has been tested in Burkina Faso. The country also pioneered pesticide-infused mosquito nets.

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Florida Environmental Group Says GMO Mosquitoes Fall Short on Scientific Rigor

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C. Drukier,  NTD,  2021-05-20 15:01:00. Link
America’s first genetically modified mosquitoes are now buzzing around six locations in the Florida Keys as part of a pilot project. Developed by UK biotech company Oxitec, the bugs are designed to kill off the wild population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that carry diseases like Dengue fever, yellow fever, and the Zika virus. Some people who live in the Keys aren’t happy about being part of a science experiment. Barry Wray, executive director of the Florida Keys Environmental Coalition explains why his organization has been fighting the GMO bugs for the last decade.

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Gravitas: Genetically modified mosquitoes arrive in Florida

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P. Sharma,  WION,  2021-05-06 15:03:25. Link
Genetically engineered mosquitoes have arrived in U.S. 20 million 'modified mosquitoes' will be released in Florida to help prevent Dengue. But, Florida residents fear a 'mosquito apocalypse'

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