Keywords: Malaria

Gene Drive and Symbiont Technologies for Control of Mosquito-Borne Diseases

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Guan-Hong Wang, Ary Hoffmann, and Jackson Champer,  Annual Reviews,  70. 2024.
Mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue and malaria, pose a significant burden to global health. Current control strategies with insecticides are only moderately effective. Scalable solutions are needed to reduce the transmission risk of these diseases. Symbionts and genome ...

Stable introduction of Wolbachia wPip into invasive Anopheles stephensi for potential malaria control

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Yongkang Liang, Julian Liu, et al.,  PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases,  2024.
Recent efforts have successfully utilized the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia to control mosquito-transmitted viral diseases like dengue in multiple countries. However, similar initiatives have been limited in combating malaria, the most devastating and deadly mosquito-borne ...

10 myths and misconceptions around modified mosquitoes

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Milliam 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

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Mathias 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 ...

Bill Gates’ Efforts To Eradicate Malaria And The Economic Impact Of Ridding The Globe Of This Disease

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Kaili Killpack,  Yahoo Finance,  2024.
In a compelling drive to eradicate one of the world’s deadliest diseases, Bill Gates is leveraging his substantial influence and resources to tackle malaria with renewed vigor. His foundation's recent initiatives are centered around a multi-faceted approach that blends ...

Is Kenya ready to turn to technology to finally defeat malaria?­­

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Brygettes Ngana,  Nation,  2024.
For decades, researchers have  tested and refined dozens of methods to combat malaria,  striving to outmaneuver  the resilient mosquito.  From deploying bed nets to developing indoor residual spraying, these strategies have formed the frontline defense against this persistent ...

A model-informed target product profile for population modification gene drives for malaria control

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Agastya Mondal, Héctor M. Sánchez C., John M. Marshall,  medRxiv,  2024.
As reductions in malaria transmission in sub-Saharan Africa stagnate, gene drive-modified mosquitoes represent one of the most promising novel tools for continued disease control. In order to advance from the laboratory to the field, gene drives will be assessed against target ...

World Mosquito Day: Gene Drives and CRISPR Technology

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Public Health On Call,  YouTube,  2024.

Scientists want to use mosquito stomach bacteria to end malaria

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Chia-Yu Chen & Shüné Oliver,  Alliance for Science,  2024.
The months of September to May are an unfortunate season in South Africa: malaria season. The mosquito-borne disease is found in the north-eastern districts of KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. There are fewer malaria cases in South Africa compared to other ...

Malaria & Dengue; distinguishing mosquito-borne diseases

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Grace Matheka,  HapaKenya,  2024.
World Mosquito Day is commemorated every year on the 20th of August. The day brings an opportunity to raise awareness on the dangers posed by mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and dengue, and the ongoing efforts to combat them. Both malaria and dengue are transmitted by female ...

Scientists’ novel technology to conserve mosquitoes

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Milliam Murigi,  People Daily,  2024.
As the world celebrates World Mosquito Day today, scientists have introduced a revolutionary technology that could conserve mosquitoes instead of killing them while eliminating some of the diseases transmitted by mosquitos. Known as gene drive technology, this innovative ...

FILMS: Gene drive mosquitoes for malaria control

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Sarah Hartley and Tom Law,  Gene Drive Governance,  2024.
Gene drive mosquitoes for malaria control is a short documentary film that is beautifully shot in Uganda and explores Ugandan stakeholders’ hopes for gene drive mosquitoes – a radical new tool that offers a way to eliminate or change the mosquitoes that cause malaria. Uganda ...

Assessing CRISPR/Cas9 potential in SDG3 attainment: malaria elimination—regulatory and community engagement landscape

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Snuzik, A.,  Malaria Journal,  23. 2024.
Elimination of malaria has become a United Nations member states target: Target 3.3 of the sustainable development goal no. 3 (SDG3). Despite the measures taken, the attainment of this goal is jeopardized by an alarming trend of increasing malaria case incidence. Globally, there ...

New Global Malaria Programme operational strategy calls to accelerate the development and introduction of new tools

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Lodney Nazaré,  Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research,  2024.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently published its Global Malaria Programme operational strategy 2024–2030. The document builds on the previously adopted Global technical strategy for malaria 2016-2030, and sets out priorities and key activities needed to support ...

The race against time to defeat mosquito-borne diseases

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Michael Peel,  Financial Times,  2024.
Deep in the bowels of Imperial College London’s main campus is a facility known as the insectary. The journey to it, via basement corridors and an entrance that sounds an alarm upon opening, feels like something out of a horror film. Beyond two sets of double doors lies the ...

Eliminating malaria vectors with precision-guided sterile males

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Reema A. Apte, Andrea L. Smidler, James J. Pai, et al,  Applied Biological Sciences,  121. 2024.
Controlling the principal African malaria vector, the mosquito Anopheles gambiae, is considered essential to curtail malaria transmission. However, existing vector control technologies rely on insecticides, which are becoming increasingly ineffective. Sterile insect technique ...

Mosquito population structure and gene-drive

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Heredity Podcast,  2024.
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 ...

Investigating the ecological role of malaria mosquitoes

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Talya D. Hackett,  Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research,  2024.
A team of entomologists and ecologists at the University of Ghana have been working with colleagues from the University of Oxford and the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics at the University of Guelph on a groundbreaking project to investigate the potential ecological ...

Curing mosquitoes with genetic approaches for malaria control

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Mary Kefi, Victor Cardoso-Jaime, Sally A. Saab, George Dimopoulos,  Trends in Parasitology,  2024.
Malaria remains a persistent global public health challenge because of the limitations of current prevention tools. The use of transgenic mosquitoes incapable of transmitting malaria, in conjunction with existing methods, holds promise for achieving elimination of malaria and ...

Where gene drive fits into WHO’s new Global Malaria Programme operational strategy

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Mouhamed Drabo,  Target Malaria,  2024.
On the 23rd of April 2024, WHO published an updated operational strategy for its Global Malaria Programme for the years 2024-2030. The Global Malaria Programme was initially guided by a strategy intended to cover the years 2016-2030, which served as a framework and guide for ...

A Y chromosome-linked genome editor for efficient population suppression in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae

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Ignacio Tolosana, Katie Willis, Austin Burt, Matthew Gribble, Tony Nolan, Andrea Crisanti, Federica Bernardini,  bioRxiv,  2024.
Genetic control – the deliberate introduction of genetic traits to control a pest or vector population – offers a powerful tool to augment conventional mosquito control tools that have been successful in reducing malaria burden but that are compromised by a range of ...

Gene drive mosquitoes designed to eliminate malaria – but governance is complex, new film shows

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Russell Parton,  University of Exeter,  2024.
A radical new biotechnology could eliminate the mosquitoes that cause malaria, but in Uganda – where malaria is the leading cause of death – a lack of information and debate is undermining public debate on the issue. Professor Sarah Hartley’s new research documentary ...

How could genetic approaches be integrated in the malaria toolkit?

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Damaris Matoke-Muhia,  Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research,  2024.
The Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research organized a symposium on the margins of the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM Society)’s 8th Pan-African Malaria Conference held last week in Kigali, Rwanda. The event explored how novel genetic approaches could be integrated ...

Wolbachia infection-responsive immune genes suppress Plasmodium falciparum infection in Anopheles stephensi

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Vandana V, Dong S, Sheth T, Sun Q, Wen H, Maldonado A, et al.,  PLoS Pathogens,  20. 2024.
Wolbachia, a maternally transmitted symbiotic bacterium of insects, can suppress a variety of human pathogens in mosquitoes, including malaria-causing Plasmodium in the Anopheles vector. However, the mechanistic basis of Wolbachia-mediated Plasmodium suppression in mosquitoes is ...

African health ministers commit to concerted action to end malaria deaths

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Felista Tarimo,  Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research,  2024.
On March 6, health ministers from African countries with the highest burden of malaria met in Yaoundé, Cameroon, and signed a declaration committing to the fundamental principle “that no one should die from malaria.” The Declaration for Accelerated Malaria Mortality ...

Genetically modified mosquitoes could one day end malaria

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Alexis Akwagyiram,  Semafor,  2024.
Abdoulaye Diabaté, a scientist from Burkina Faso, is at the vanguard of efforts to eliminate malaria by editing the genetic makeup of male mosquitoes and releasing them in the wild to prevent the reproduction of female mosquito species that transmit malaria. The technique is ...

Group trains Nigerian journalists on “gene drives” controversies

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Tosin Omoniyi,  Premium Times,  2024.
The Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI) held a training for Nigerian journalists on the controversies surrounding the ‘gene drives’ research organisations that allegedly target Africans as “guinea pigs.” The training, the organisers said, was aimed at equipping ...

Bacterial warriors fight mosquito-borne diseases

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Alejandra Manjarrez,  Drug Discovery News,  2024.
Every time a mosquito bites a person, multiple feasts take place. As in most animals, a meal provides nutrients to the mosquito as well as to the troop of bacteria that inhabits its gut. Occasionally, the mosquito may also ingest a parasite: a Plasmodium protozoan responsible ...

Africa’s Champion Against Malaria, Professor Abdoulaye Diabaté on stage at TED2024

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Nelly Gachanja,  African Media Agency,  2024.
TED2024, a hallmark event celebrating 40 years of innovation, ingenuity, creativity, courage, and generosity, taking place in Vancouver, Canada from 15-19 April, will feature Africa’s esteemed, and leading champion against malaria, Prof. Abdoulaye Diabaté as a speaker. In his ...

High-Stakes Decision Making for World-Changing Technologies

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TEDx Talks,  YouTube,  2024.

African researchers committed to ending malaria

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African Media Agency,  2024.
The need to encourage more young African girls to pursue careers in science cannot be overemphasized.

Uganda and Djibouti seek Friendly mosquitoes to fight malaria

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Richard Wetaya,  Alliance for Science,  2024.
According to Oxitec CEO Grey Frandsen, the Friendly technology platform was ideally equipped to produce a safe, sustainable solution to manage the Anopheles stephensi mosquito vector based on years of experience creating and deploying other Oxitec solutions at scale.

Flight Against Infections: The Role of Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes, with Dr. Stephanie James

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EeKs on Health,  YouTube,  2024.

CRISPR-mediated germline mutagenesis for genetic sterilization of Anopheles gambiae males

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Smidler, A.L., Marrogi, E., Kauffman, J. et al.,  Scientific Reports,  14. 2024.
Rapid spread of insecticide resistance among anopheline mosquitoes threatens malaria elimination efforts, necessitating development of alternative vector control technologies. Sterile insect technique (SIT) has been successfully implemented in multiple insect pests to suppress ...

Biotech Mosquitoes Can Help to Regain Ground in Fight Against Malaria

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Florence Banoba,  East News,  2024.
In response to the recent opinion articles that ran in the National print and online media in the last couple of days (1st and 5th February, 2024), regarding the use of GMO technology as a tool in the fight against malaria, I wish to address the writer’s broad-brush dismissal ...

Maui ‘ground zero’ for release of billions of biopesticide lab-altered mosquitoes

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Michael Nevradakis,  LifeSite,  2024.
Up to 775,992,000 bacteria-infected mosquitoes could be released in Maui every week for the next 20 years, according to Hawaii Unites, an environmental advocacy group that last month lost its bid to require the state to conduct an environmental impact statement before allowing ...

SPOTLIGHT: Gene Drives for Malaria Elimination in Africa

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Ifakara Health Institute,  YouTube,  2024.

Intra-lineage microevolution of Wolbachia leads to the emergence of new cytoplasmic incompatibility patterns

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Namias A, Ngaku A, Makoundou P, Unal S, Sicard M, Weill M,  PLoS Biology,  2024.
Mosquitoes of the Culex pipiens complex are worldwide vectors of arbovirus, filarial nematodes, and avian malaria agents. In these hosts, the endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia induce cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), i.e., reduced embryo viability in so-called incompatible ...

Gene driver flies and quantum finance: News from Imperial

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Bryony Ravate, Hayley Dunning,  Imperial College London,  2024.
Researchers have created the first gene drive for the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), a global agricultural pest affecting food production. The team was led by Dr Nikolai Windbichler and Dr Angela Meccariello at Imperial's Department of Life Sciences, and included ...

Scientists create first transgenic mosquito strain in Africa

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CGTN Africa,  YouTube,  2024.

Gene drives, mosquitoes, and ecosystems: An interdisciplinary approach to emerging ethical concerns

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Ricardo D. Moreno, Luca Valera, Cristián Borgoño, Juan Carlos Castilla, José Luis Riveros,  Frontiers in Environmental Science,  11. 2023.
Gene drives are genetic elements that in sexually reproducing organisms spread faster than those transmitted through a Mendelian fashion. Since gene drives can be engineered to modify different aspects of physiology and reproduction, they have been proposed as a new and ...

Communicating Creatively About Genetically Modified Mosquitoes

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Lorraine Gibson,  Target Malaria,  2023.
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 ...

African scientist could wipe out malaria by editing mosquito DNA

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Nimi Princewill,  CNN,  2023.
Malaria is a leading cause of death in Burkina Faso, where nearly all of the West African nation’s 22 million inhabitants, especially children, are at risk of the disease, according to the World Health Organization. Malaria killed nearly 19,000 people in Burkina Faso in 2021, ...

To End Malaria In Africa, a Scientist From Africa Invented Gene Drive Technology.

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Salman Ahmad,  CTN News,  2023.
Abdoulaye Diabate, a scientist from Africa, is currently working on a groundbreaking technology called ‘gene drive’ that has the potential to eradicate malaria or the mosquitoes that cause it from the continent. Diabate, who received the prestigious 2023 Falling Walls Prize ...

Gene Drive Technology Unlocks Innovative Potential Solutions At The Intersection Of Climate Change And Public Health

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Krystal Birungi,  African Media Agency,  2023.
The inaugural ‘Day of Health’ at the UN Climate Conference (COP-28) highlighted the dramatic impact of climate change on health, diseases and in particular on malaria. Heads of State and climate experts converged in Dubai to emphasise the indisputable link between climate ...

Germline transformation of the West Nile Virus and avian malaria vector Culex quinquefasciatus Say using the piggyBac transposon system

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Katherine Nevard, Rajdeep Kaur, Tim Harvey-Samuel,  bioRxiv,  2023.
Culex quinquefasciatus Say is a mosquito which acts as a vector for numerous diseases including West Nile Virus, lymphatic filariasis and avian malaria, over a broad geographical range. As the effectiveness of insecticidal mosquito control methods declines, the need has grown to ...

Anopheles gambiae on remote islands in the Indian Ocean: origins and prospects for malaria elimination by genetic modification of extant populations

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Ditter, R.E., Campos, M., Crepeau, M.W. et al.,  Scientific Reports,  13. 2023.
The mosquito Anopheles gambiae s.s. is a primary malaria vector throughout sub-Saharan Africa including the islands of the Comoros archipelago (Anjouan, Grande Comore, Mayotte and Mohéli). These islands are located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in eastern Africa. ...

Mosquito modification programme aiming to eliminate malaria receives US$15m

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Hayley Dunning,  Imperial College London,  2023.
Half of the world’s population is at risk of contracting malaria, a disease caused by parasites that are transmitted from one person to another through bites from Anopheles mosquitoes. In 2021 alone, there were over 247 million cases and 619,000 deaths from malaria, mostly ...

Inside Gates Foundation’s $15M effort to release gene-hacked mosquitoes that end malaria with ‘killer sex’

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Jona Jaupi,  The U.S. Sun,  2023.
Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by parasites and poses a significant threat to nearly half of the world's population. In 2021, an estimated 247 million people contracted malaria, with a staggering 619,000 deaths, per Imperial College. Most of those deaths affected ...

What are gene drives?

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Anonymous,  MalariaGEN,  2023.
Among the new generation of technological tools being developed to combat malaria, there is a lot of buzz around gene drives. This is a method for genetically modifying malaria-spreading mosquitoes and ultimately reducing or replacing their populations. But how exactly do gene ...

The fight against malaria

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Anonymous,  The Week,  2023.
Some scientists are betting on genetically modified mosquitoes. On the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe, 200 miles off Africa’s west coast, University of California researchers are aiming to replace local mosquitoes with lab-tweaked insects that can’t transmit the ...

The fight against malaria

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The Week US,  The Week,  2023.
Some scientists are betting on genetically modified mosquitoes. On the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe, 200 miles off Africa’s west coast, University of California researchers are aiming to replace local mosquitoes with lab-tweaked insects that can’t transmit the ...

Bill Gates Talks Gene Drives, mRNA, and U.S.$40m in Science Funding

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N. Mlambo,  allAfrica,  2023.
In 2003, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Grand Challenges initiative in order to find scientific solutions to these health challenges. Initially, the initiative focused on 14 scientific challenges including focusing on creating effective single-dose vaccines ...

Conceptual risk assessment of mosquito population modification gene-drive systems to control malaria transmission: preliminary hazards list workshops

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A. Kormos, G. Dimopoulos, E. Bier, G. C. Lanzaro, J. M. Marshall and A. A. James,  Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology,  11. 2023.
The field-testing and eventual adoption of genetically-engineered mosquitoes (GEMs) to control vector-borne pathogen transmission will require them meeting safety criteria specified by regulatory authorities in regions where the technology is being considered for use and other ...

How Genetically Modified Mosquitos can end malaria in Africa – Dr. Santos

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S. Akioye,  The Star,  2023.
With over 200 million cases every year and nearly 700,000 deaths, Malaria is currently one of Africa’s most dreaded sicknesses. While there have been efforts at finding different drugs for treatment, scientists are working on an innovative solution using genetically modified ...

This Burkinabe researcher wants his groundbreaking work to wipe out malaria, altogether

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B. Orucho and M. Ndengar,  The African Mirror,  2023.
ABDOULAYE Diabaté and his team are betting on gene technology to protect children like his own from malaria. Along with a clutch of brand-new vaccines, the technology could help the world end malaria for good.

Genetically modified mosquitoes will be ready by 2033 – scientists

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D. Sekayinga,  MONITOR,  2023.
The Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVR[) has announced that genetically modified mosquitoes will be ready within a decade. Gene-drive mosquitoes are among the anti-malarial strategies the government under the Africa Target Malaria project has embarked on since 2016, to reduce ...

Expansions to the MGDrivE suite for simulating the efficacy of novel gene-drive constructs in the control of mosquito-borne diseases

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J. B. Bennett, S. L. Wu, P. R. Chennuri, K. M. Myles and M. L. Ndeffo-Mbah,  BMC Research Notes,  16:258. 2023.
The MGDrivE (MGDrivE 1 and MGDrivE 2) modeling framework provides a flexible and expansive environment for testing the efficacy of novel gene-drive constructs for the control of mosquito-borne diseases. However, the existing model framework did not previously support several ...

The Gamble: Can Genetically Modified Mosquitoes End Disease?

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S. Nolen,  New York Times,  2023.
The malaria situation in São Tomé and Príncipe, an African island nation with a population of 200,000, epitomizes the current challenge in the global struggle against the disease. The country is among the world’s least developed, and it has depended on foreign aid to fight ...

Could a new gene-editing technique be a major breakthrough in the battle against malaria?

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B. Cottam,  GEOGRAPHICAL,  2023.
The idea is that since female mosquitoes typically only mate once, the mass release of the sterile male mosquitoes should prevent wild females from producing future generations. Insect populations can and have already been successfully suppressed by the release of sterilised ...

Measuring the Impact of Genetic Heterogeneity and Chromosomal Inversions on the Efficacy of CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Drives in Different Strains of Anopheles gambiae

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Pescod, Poppy Bevivino, Giulia Anthousi, Amalia Shelton, Ruth Shepherd, Josephine Lombardo, Fabrizio Nolan, Tony,  The CRISPR Journal,  2023.
The human malaria vector Anopheles gambiae is becoming increasingly resistant to insecticides, spurring the development of genetic control strategies. CRISPR-Cas9 gene drives can modify a population by creating double-stranded breaks at highly specific targets, triggering copying ...

Buzzing breakthrough: genetic engineering gives mosquito control an upgrade

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Sivasubbu, Sridhar Scaria, Vinod,  The Hindu,  2023.
Throughout human history, mosquitoes have constantly buzzed in the background of human existence, irritating us with their incessant bites and occasionally wreaking havoc by transmitting deadly diseases. The earliest known mosquitoes from the fossil record date back at least 70 ...

A recombinant Aspergillus oryzae fungus transmitted from larvae to adults of Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes inhibits malaria parasite oocyst development

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L. Kianifard, A. M. Rafiqi, O. Akcakir, A. S. I. Aly, P. F. Billingsley and S. Uysal,  Scientific Reports,  13:12177. 2023.
The control of malaria parasite transmission from mosquitoes to humans is hampered by decreasing efficacies of insecticides, development of drug resistance against the last-resort antimalarials, and the absence of effective vaccines. Herein, the anti-plasmodial transmission ...

Can Gene-Drives Combat Vector-Borne Diseases?

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Anonymous,  tomorrow.bio,  2023.
Scientists, technophiles, and the medical community are abuzz with a topic that sounds like science fiction: gene-drives. Given the growing fear of vector-borne diseases, wouldn’t it be marvelous if we could meddle with genetics to drive vectors like mosquitoes to extinction? ...

How genetically modifying mosquitoes could strengthen the world’s war on malaria

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S. Oliver and J. Raman,  The Conversation,  2023.
Mosquitoes can be genetically modified through two different technologies. The first method, paratransgenesis, involves infecting mosquitoes with bacteria that prevent them from transmitting malaria. This doesn’t harm the mosquito. It is important not to eliminate or harm ...

British super mosquitoes being deployed to wipe out malaria from the planet

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J. Lawton,  Daily Star,  2023.
The Brit-made mosquitoes are all male and carry a special gene to prevent female offspring from surviving into adulthood.Only females bite and spread malaria. Released into the wild Oxitec’s genetically-modified males mate with wild females. All the female offspring then die. ...

Genetically modified Brit mosquitoes could stamp out malaria with Bill Gates’ backing

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K. Williams,  Mirror,  2023.
British super mosquitoes could be deployed worldwide to eradicate malaria. Billionaire Bill Gates is backing the British effort to send the country’s mosquitoes across the world in an effort to stamp out the deadly disease. This would work because the super mozzies, created by ...

A mosquito symbiont takes down malaria

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A. Taglialegna,  Nature Reviews Microbiology,  2023.
Malaria, a parasitic infection transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes, is globally prevalent. Control strategies for malaria include insecticides and antiparasitic drugs, which target the mosquito vector or the parasite in the human host, respectively. The effectiveness of these ...

Baker: New tools can change mosquitoes’ DNA, but should it be done?

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K. Baker,  Fremont News Messenger,  2023.
Suppose Sauron — or perhaps Gandalf — were to offer you a magical golden ring with the power to rid the world of mosquitoes once and for all. And with their demise, to save countless human lives from the many diseases for which mosquitoes are the sole or primary vectors: ...

Malaria’s latest foe? Bacteria.

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M. Coulson,  Johns Hopkins,  2023.
In a new paper published in Science, Marcelo Jacobs-Lorena, PhD, professor emeritus in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, and his colleagues, in collaboration with researchers at GSK Global Health Medicines R&D, show that a naturally occurring bacterium and a chemical it ...

A naturally occurring bacteria can stop the malaria parasite right in a mosquito’s gut

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A. Bhattacharya,  Quartz,  2023.
Scientists at a GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) research facility in Spain discovered that a strain of Delftia tsuruhatensis bacterium, named Tres Cantos 1 (TC1), inhibits the malaria parasite in mosquitoes, known as Plasmodium. Researchers suspected something was going on when the ...

Delftia tsuruhatensis TC1 symbiont suppresses malaria transmission by anopheline mosquitoes

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W. Huang, J. Rodrigues, E. Bilgo, J. R. Tormo, J. D. Challenger, C. De Cozar-Gallardo, I. Pérez-Victoria, F. Reyes, P. Castañeda-Casado, E. J. Gnambani, D. F. d. S. Hien, M. Konkobo, B. Urones, I. Coppens, A. Mendoza-Losana, L. Ballell, A. Diabate, T. S.,  Science,  381:533-540. 2023.
Malaria control demands the development of a wide range of complementary strategies. We describe the properties of a naturally occurring, non?genetically modified symbiotic bacterium, Delftia tsuruhatensis TC1, which was isolated from mosquitoes incapable of sustaining the ...

Microbe stops mosquitoes from harboring malaria parasite

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C. Offord,  Science,  2023.
Researchers have tried to use microbes to control mosquito-borne diseases before. The virus-fighting bacterium Wolbachia pipientis has shown particular promise against dengue fever in recent clinical trials and is already used in some areas of the world. But most methods for ...

Cost-effectiveness of Precision Guided SIT for Control of Anopheles gambiae in the Upper River Region, The Gambia

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G. William, R. Robyn, M. Agastya, M. S. C. Hector, S. Andrea, Z. David, G. I. Patrick, D. Umberto, Alessandro, M. M. John and A. Omar,  bioRxiv,  2023.07.20.549762. 2023.
Precision-guided sterile insect technique (pgSIT) is an extremely promising vector control intervention that can reduce and potentially eliminate the unacceptable malaria burden, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Here we explore the cost effectiveness of using this approach in ...

Mosquitoes spread malaria. These researchers want them to fight it instead

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G. Brumfiel,  NPR,  2023.
Mosquitoes carry malaria, which kills hundreds of thousands of people each year. Now some researchers are trying to use genetic engineering to make the pesky insects into allies in the fight against the disease. The approach is a radical departure from traditional ways of ...

Mosquito-friendly gene drive may lead to a malaria-free future

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Anonymous,  LIFE TECHNOLOGY,  2023.
A gene drive is a genetic mechanism that allows a particular gene to spread rapidly through a population. In the case of malaria, scientists are working on developing a gene drive that would make mosquitoes resistant to the parasite that causes the disease. This would reduce the ...

Engineered Gut Symbiotic Bacterium-Mediated RNAi for Effective Control of Anopheles Mosquito Larvae

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J. J. Ding, C. L. Cui, G. D. Wang, G. Wei, L. Bai, Y. F. Li, P. L. Sun, L. Dong, Z. C. Liu, J. Q. Yun, F. Li, K. Li, L. He and S. B. Wang,  Microbiology Spectrum,  2023.
Anopheles mosquitoes are the primary vectors for the transmission of malaria parasites, which poses a devastating burden on global public health and welfare. The recent invasion of Anopheles stephensi in Africa has made malaria eradication more challenging due to its outdoor ...

Dual effector population modification gene-drive strains of the African malaria mosquitoes, Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles coluzzii

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R. Carballar-Lejarazú, Y. Dong, T. B. Pham, T. Tushar, R. M. Corder, A. Mondal, H. M. Sánchez C, H.-F. Lee, J. M. Marshall, G. Dimopoulos and A. A. James,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,  120:e2221118120. 2023.
Proposed genetic approaches for reducing human malaria include population modification, which introduces genes into vector mosquitoes to reduce or prevent parasite transmission. We demonstrate the potential of Cas9/guide RNA (gRNA)?based gene-drive systems linked to dual ...

Mosquitoes made immune to malaria could help stamp out the disease

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C. Wilson,  NewScientist,  2023.
Mosquitoes have been gene edited so they are immune to the parasites that cause malaria. If released into the wild, the genetic modification should spread through a population of mosquitoes because it contains a sequence known as a “gene drive”, which means all the modified ...

Routes of Introduction of Anopheles gambiae Into Remote Islands in the Indian Ocean

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R. E. Ditter, M. Campos, M. W. Crepeau, J. Pinto, A. Toilibou, Y. Amina, Y. Lee, A. J. Cornel and G. C. Lanzaro,  2023.
The malaria vector Anopheles gambiae s.s., is a primary malaria vector throughout sub-Saharan Africa including the islands of the Comoros archipelago (Anjouan, Grande Comore, Mayotte and Mohéli). These islands are located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in eastern ...

Unleashing the swarm: Battling the global mosquito menace and defending public health

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J. Entine and S. Moxon,  Genetic Literacy Project,  2023.
There is one solution embraced by global health experts that should be pursued aggressively, if with some caution. Scientists in real-world trials have altered the genomes of entire animal populations, including mosquitoes, to thwart the vectoring of diseases and control pests ...

Malaria Cases In U.S. Trigger Unfounded Claims About Bill Gates, Mosquito Project

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B. Y. Lee,  Forbes,  2023.
When the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an alert about finding four malaria cases in Florida and one malaria case in Texas, it created quite a buzz. After all, these were the first reported cases of people actually catching malaria in the U.S. since ...

How genetically modified mosquitoes could eradicate malaria

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S. Jones,  Nature,  2023.
Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites that are transmitted from person to person by Anopheles mosquitoes — often Anopheles gambiae, the primary vector in sub-Saharan Africa. Many approaches to malaria control focus on mosquitoes. Insecticide-treated mosquito nets and indoor ...

MGSurvE: A framework to optimize trap placement for genetic surveillance of mosquito population

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C. H. Sánchez, D. L. Smith and J. M. Marshall,  bioRxiv,  2023.
Genetic surveillance of mosquito populations is becoming increasingly relevant as genetics-based mosquito control strategies advance from laboratory to field testing. Especially applicable are mosquito gene drive projects, the potential scale of which leads monitoring to be a ...

Draft environmental assessment released for using modified mosquitoes to save native birds on Kauaʻi

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Anonymous,  Big Island NOW,  2023.
Today, the draft environmental assessment was made public for the use of Wolbachia-based incompatible male mosquitoes on Kauaʻi to stop the spread of avian malaria that is decimating native forest bird populations. The public has 31 days — from June 23 until July 24 — to ...

CRISPR-mediated germline mutagenesis for genetic sterilization of Anopheles gambiae males

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A. L. Smidler, D. G. Paton, G. M. Church, W. R. Shaw and F. Catteruccia,  bioRxiv,  2023.06.13.544841. 2023.
Rapid spread of insecticide resistance among anopheline mosquitoes threatens malaria elimination efforts, necessitating development of alternative vector control technologies. Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) has been successfully implemented in multiple insect pests to suppress ...

Requirements for market entry of gene drive-modified mosquitoes for control of vector-borne diseases: analogies to other biologic and biotechnology products

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S. L. James, H. Quemada, M. Q. Benedict and B. Dass,  Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology,  11:1205865. 2023.
Gene drive-modified mosquitoes (GDMMs) are proposed as new tools for control and elimination of malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases, and promising results have been observed from testing conducted in containment. Although still at an early stage of development, it is ...

Generation game: gene-edited mosquitos to fight malaria

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J. Opara,  Sci Dev Net,  2023.
Population-level changes in the genetic make-up of one of the world’s deadliest animals could provide a key in the fight against malaria, proponents of a radical new technology argue. So-called gene drive technology, where genetic changes are passed down through generations, ...

The optimal strategy of incompatible insect technique (IIT) using Wolbachia and the application to malaria control

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T. Matsufuji and S. Seirin-Lee,  Journal of Theoretical Biology,  569:111519. 2023.
For decades, techniques to control vector population with low environmental impact have been widely explored in both field and theoretical studies. The incompatible insect technique (IIT) using Wolbachia, based on cytoplasmic incompatibility, is a technique that ...

Holobiont perspectives on tripartite interactions among microbiota, mosquitoes, and pathogens

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R. Zheng, Q. Wang, R. Wu, P. N. Paradkar, A. A. Hoffmann and G. H. Wang,  ISME,  2023.
Mosquito-borne diseases like dengue and malaria cause a significant global health burden. Unfortunately, current insecticides and environmental control strategies aimed at the vectors of these diseases are only moderately effective in decreasing disease burden. Understanding and ...

The boundary problem: Defining and delineating the community in field trials with gene drive organisms

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N. de Graeff, I. Pirson, R. van der Graaf, A. L. Bredenoord and K. R. Jongsma,  Bioethics,  2023.
Despite widespread and worldwide efforts to eradicate vector-borne diseases such as malaria, these diseases continue to have an enormous negative impact on public health. For this reason, scientists are working on novel control strategies, such as gene drive technologies (GDTs). ...

In The Face Of Nigerian Mosquito Nets, Westerners’ Gene Editing Offers Hope

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O. Onwumere,  The Nigerian Voice,  2023.
In Nigeria, the utilization of mosquito nets is prevalent, while in the Western world, optimism is associated with the implementation of gene editing technology. In this article, ODIMEGWU ONWUMERE reports that malaria could soon be eradicated in Nigeria. According to US ...

First transgenic mosquito made in Africa by Transmission Zero

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H. Dunning,  Imperial College London,  2023.
Transmission Zero, a global scientific programme led by scientists at Imperial College London and the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) of Tanzania, in partnership with the Tanzanian National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), announces the generation of the first transgenic ...

The Promise and Challenge of Genetic Biocontrol Approaches for Malaria Elimination

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S. James and M. Santos,  Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease,  2023.
Malaria remains an ongoing public health challenge, with over 600,000 deaths in 2021, of which approximately 96% occurred in Africa. Despite concerted efforts, the goal of global malaria elimination has stalled in recent years. This has resulted in widespread calls for new ...

Gene Drives Are Coming

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D. Lowe,  Science,  2023.
Consider the “gene drive” idea - there are a lot of variations, but the general idea is that you introduce a genetic sequence into an organism that can bias (drive) its own inheritance into the next generation. This is a thumb-on-the-scale unnatural selection if ever there ...

Modeling Sustained Transmission of Wolbachia among Anopheles Mosquitoes: Implications for Malaria Control in Haiti

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D. Florez, A. J. Young, K. J. Bernabé, J. M. Hyman and Z. Qu,  Trop Med Infect Dis,  8. 2023.
Wolbachia infection in Anopheles albimanus mosquitoes can render mosquitoes less capable of spreading malaria. We developed and analyzed a mechanistic compartmental ordinary differential equation model to evaluate the effectiveness of Wolbachia-based vector control strategies ...

Gene Drives and Vector-Borne Diseases: A Comparative Perspective Using Malaria as a Case Study

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S. Todi,  The Takshashila Institution,  2023.
Gene drives are an emerging technological application to reduce the prevalence of vector-borne diseases, crop pests, and non-native invasive species. This method for vector control is currently at the research stage, with parallel community engagement programmes being carried out ...

Gene Drives and Vector-Borne Diseases: A Comparative Perspective Using Malaria as a Case Study

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S. Todi,  The Takshashila Institution,  2023.
Gene drives are an emerging technological application to reduce the prevalence of vector-borne diseases, crop pests, and non-native invasive species. This method for vector control is currently at the research stage, with parallel community engagement programmes being carried out ...

Hybrid incompatibilities in the anopheles gambiae species complex

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A. Kriezis,  Imperial College London,  2023.
Malaria is an infectious disease caused by parasites of the genus Plasmodium which is responsible for approximately 400,000 deaths annually, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes belonging to the Anopheles gambiae species complex. While progress ...

Alleviating the burden of malaria with gene drive technologies? A biocentric analysis of the moral permissibility of modifying malaria mosquitoes

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N. de Graeff, K. R. Jongsma and A. L. Bredenoord,  Journal of Medical Ethics,  2023.
Gene drive technologies (GDTs) have been proposed as a potential new way to alleviate the burden of malaria, yet have also raised ethical questions. A central ethical question regarding GDTs relates to whether it is morally permissible to intentionally modify or eradicate ...

Will new genetic engineering tech finally eliminate malaria?

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Anonymous,  Business Daily,  2023.
Richard Mukabana, a senior research and policy analyst at African Institute for Development Policy, says the technology which employs the principle of sending a thief to catch a thief may yet prove the most effective. “It is only a mosquito that knows where another mosquito is ...

Gene Drives Could Fight Malaria and Other Global Killers but Might Have Unintended Consequences

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M. Cobb,  Scientific American,  2023.
Every year more than 600,000 people die from mosquito-transmitted malaria, most of them children under age five. Some insects that are disease vectors, such as mosquitoes, are currently expanding their range around the world, bringing new threats. Genetic engineering can fix this ...

Genetically modified mosquitoes … could CRISPR gene editing end malaria?

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D. Wells,  SelectScience,  2022.
Despite being a preventable and treatable disease, malaria is currently affecting the lives of more than 200 million people.1 This results in over half a million deaths per year, with 80% of this mortality occurring in children under the age of 5.2 In addition to the tragic ...

East Maui project hopes mosquito v. mosquito mating battle will save endangered birds

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K. Cerizo,  MAUINOW,  2022.

Bioinformatic and literature assessment of toxicity and allergenicity of a CRISPR-Cas9 engineered gene drive to control the human malaria mosquito vector Anopheles gambiae

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A. Qureshi and J. B. Connolly,  Malaria Journal,  2022.
Population suppression gene drive is currently being evaluated, including via environmental risk assessment (ERA), for malaria vector control. One such gene drive involves the dsxFCRISPRh transgene encoding (i) hCas9 endonuclease, (i) T1 guide RNA (gRNA) targeting the doublesex ...

Determining the landscape of resistance to gene drives in the malaria mosquito

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I. Morianou,  Imperial College London,  2022.
Gene drives are engineered selfish genetic elements with the potential to spread throughout entire insect populations for sustainable vector control. Recently, a gene drive was shown to eliminate caged populations of the malaria mosquito by targeting the highly conserved ...

A comprehensive overview of the existing microbial symbionts in mosquito vectors: An important tool for impairing pathogentransmission

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V. Vandana, M. P. Kona, J. Kumar, O. P. Singh and K. C. Pandey,  Experimental Parasitology,  243. 2022.
The emergence of drug-resistant parasites and/or insecticide-resistant mosquito vectors necessitates developing alternative tools that either supplement or replace the conventional malaria control strategies. Trans-infecting the mosquito vector with symbionts that can either ...

Should we use a genetic weapon against mosquitoes carrying malaria?

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T. H. Saey,  ScienceNewsExplores,  2022.
In a large laboratory cage, a male mosquito carries a genetic weapon that could launch the destruction of his species. That loss could also mean the end of the parasite that causes malaria. The weapon? A self-replicating bit of DNA known as a gene drive. It’s one of the most ...

Health experts meet in Dar over use of GMO mosquitoes to fight Malaria

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M. Chelangat,  NATION,  2022.
Regional health think thanks led by the African Institute for Development and Policy (AFIDEP), East African Community(EAC) Health department, East African Health Research Commission and Ifakara health institute will be meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for three day starting ...

Combining transgenesis with paratransgenesis to fight malaria

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W. Huang, J. Vega-Rodriguez, C. Kizito, S.-J. Cha and M. Jacobs-Lorena,  eLife,  11:e77584. 2022.
Malaria is among the deadliest infectious diseases, and Plasmodium, the causative agent, needs to complete a complex development cycle in its vector mosquito for transmission to occur. Two promising strategies to curb transmission are transgenesis, consisting of genetically ...

Target Malaria’s scientists are working to rid Africa of an ancient plague

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D. Matthews,  Vox,  2022.
This could very well be the last century in human history when people die from malaria. If and when we do eradicate the disease, the team at Target Malaria will probably deserve a big share of the credit. Their plan to use gene drive technology to wipe out species of mosquitoes ...

Driving down malaria transmission with engineered gene drives

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W. T. Garrood, P. Cuber, K. Willis, F. Bernardini, N. M. Page and R. E. Haghighat-Khah,  Frontiers in Genetics,  13. 2022.
The last century has witnessed the introduction, establishment and expansion of mosquito-borne diseases into diverse new geographic ranges. Malaria is transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitoes. Despite making great strides over the past few decades in reducing the burden of ...

Mosquito Gene Drives and the Malaria Eradication Agenda

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Editor: R. Carballar-Lejarazu,,  Jenny Stanford Publishing,  2022.
Malaria is one of most serious infectious diseases today and has afflicted humankind for thousands of years. A significant number of people still die from this mosquito-borne disease, despite the use of various malaria prevention and control methods over hundreds of years and ...

Combating Mosquito-Borne Diseases with CRISPR

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N. Spahich,  The Scientist,  2022.
Female mosquitoes are some of the deadliest organisms in the world due to their ability to spread infectious diseases through a simple bite. Mosquito-borne diseases such as yellow fever, Zika, Dengue fever, and malaria kill millions of humans every year, and there are limited ...

Research: Scientists Modify Mosquitoes That Can’t Spread Malaria

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N. Kharbanda,  Onlymyhealth,  2022.
According to a research, scientists have found a way to genetically engineer mosquitoes with the capability to slow down the multiplication of malaria-causing parasites in their gut. This is an advance study, that can help in preventing the infecting of the disease in humans. The ...

Explained: How Scientists Are Genetically modifying Mosquitoes To Reduce Malaria

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Anonymous,  Outlook,  2022.
he Delhi High Court on Friday asked the state government to inform it within two weeks of the proposal of increasing the fine amount in mosquito breeding cases. The court last year took suo moto cognizance of the issue of large-scale mosquito breeding in the city, resulting in ...

Explained: How scientists engineered mosquitoes that cannot spread malaria

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FP Explainers,  Firstpost,  2022.
The world of science is reaching new heights. Scientists have now developed mosquitoes that will bite you but not cause malaria. The study was conducted by a team of researchers called Transmission: Zero at the Imperial College of London. The results of the research were ...

Malaria Gene Drives: A Battle Of Wit Between The Government And Stakeholders

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O. Onwumere,  The Nigerian Voice,  2022.
Through the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), guidelines for gene editing, primarily in agriculture, were approved by the Nigerian Federal Government in December 2020. As the first country in Africa, the government was praised for taking the momentous step of ...

Malaria-free mosquito engineered by scientists

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GNA,  MODERN GHANA,  2022.
Scientists have genetically modified the main malaria-carrying species of mosquito in sub-SaharanAfrica to slow the growth of malaria-causing parasites in their gut, preventing transmission of thedisease to humans. When the Anopheles gambiae takes a blood meal, it produces two ...

Malaria-free mosquito engineered by scientists

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D. Davies,  GHANA NEWS AGENCY,  2022.
Scientists have genetically modified the main malaria-carrying species of mosquito in sub-Saharan Africa to slow the growth of malaria-causing parasites in their gut, preventing transmission of the disease to humans. When the Anopheles gambiae takes a blood meal, it produces two ...

Gene drive used to make all female mosquitoes sterile

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Akfire1,  TechiLink,  2022.
We have long known that we can limit malaria infections by controlling the mosquitoes that transmit them. But that knowledge has not translated into auditing efforts that have always been completely successful. Many of the approaches we have used to control mosquitoes have caused ...

Justifying an Intentional Species Extinction: The Case of Anopheles gambiae

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D. E. Callies and Y. Rohwer,  Environmental Values,  31:193-210. 2022.
Each year, over 200 million people are infected with the malaria parasite, nearly half a million of whom succumb to the disease. Emerging genetic technologies could, in theory, eliminate the burden of malaria throughout the world by intentionally eradicating the mosquitoes that ...

How We’re Reducing Disease With Genetically Modified Mosquitoes

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V. Wise,  HealthMatch,  2022.
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, ...

Scientists stunt parasite growth to tackle malaria

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RSS24.news,  RSS24.NEWS,  2022.
Loss of life, loss of livlihoods and homelessness have already afflicted these flood marooned refugees in Pakistan. Now these living conditions means they also face sickness and and without protection malaria is a major threat. Health agencies try to protect people against ...

Scientists are manipulating the DNA of mosquitoes to fight the spread of malaria

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R. Min,  EURONEWS.NEXT,  2022.
Scientists say they have managed to genetically modify mosquitoes so that they are unable to spread malaria, a disease that kills well over half a million people each year. The changes cause mosquitoes to live shorter lives, while the parasites inside them, which cause the fatal ...

Scientists engineer mosquitoes that cannot spread malaria

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J. Dalton,  Independen,  2022.
Scientists have engineered mosquitoes that cannot give humans malaria, saying their work could potentially eliminate the disease. Researchers at Imperial College London genetically modified the insects so that the growth of malaria-causing parasites in their guts was slowed.

Scientists Engineer Mosquitoes That Can’t Transmit Malaria

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C. Murez,  US News,  2022.
The fight against malaria could hinge on genetically engineered mosquitoes that have something called "gene drive."Researchers from the Transmission: Zero team at Imperial College London report that they have engineered mosquitoes that slow the growth in their gut of the ...

Mosquitoes that can’t spread malaria engineered by scientists

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2022.
Scientists have engineered mosquitoes that slow the growth of malaria-causing parasites in their gut, preventing transmission of the disease to humans The genetic modification causes mosquitoes to produce compounds in their guts that stunt the growth of parasites, meaning they ...

Scientists engineer mosquitoes that can’t spread malaria

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S. Varshney,  Gamacher Central,  2022.
Scientists have engineered mosquitoes that slow the growth of malaria-causing parasites in their gut, preventing transmission of the disease to humans. The genetic modification causes mosquitoes to produce compounds in their guts that stunt the growth of parasites, meaning they ...

Mosquitoes with honeybee DNA could tame malaria

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R. Blakely,  The Times,  2022.
A new form of genetically engineered mosquito could reduce the spread of malaria in Africa, a study suggests. The addition of DNA from a honeybee and genetic material from the African clawed frog prompt the new mosquitoes to produce compounds to stunt the growth of the parasite ...

Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes Prevented the Growth of Malaria-causing Parasites in Their Gut

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P. Mozter,  Nature World News 2022,  2022.
Abstract: Scientists have created mosquitoes that inhibit the development of malaria-causing parasites in their stomachs, therefore decreasing disease transmission to people. The genetic change allows mosquitoes to create substances in their intestines that inhibit parasite ...

Mosquitoes are being genetically modified so they can’t spread malaria

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M. Le Page,  New Scientist,  2022.
Gene editing mosquitoes so they die before malaria parasites can develop inside them could stop the spread of the deadly parasite entirely,

Genetically-modified mosquitoes could ‘help wipe out malaria’

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S. Knapton,  The Telegraph,  2022.
Mosquitoes that cannot spread malaria have been genetically engineered by British scientists, in a breakthrough that could help eliminate the disease. ...

Gene drive mosquitoes can aid malaria elimination by retarding Plasmodium sporogonic development

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Hoermann, Astrid, Habtewold, Tibebu, Selvaraj, Prashanth, Del Corsano, Giuseppe, Capriotti, Paolo, Inghilterra, Maria Grazia, Kebede, Temesgen M., Christophides, George K. and Windbichler, Nikolai,  Science Advances,  2022.
Gene drives hold promise for the genetic control of malaria vectors. The development of vector population modification strategies hinges on the availability of effector mechanisms impeding parasite development in transgenic mosquitoes. We augmented a midgut gene of the malaria ...

Scientists engineer mosquitoes that can’t spread malaria

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Imperial College London,  Phys Org,  2022.
Scientists have engineered mosquitoes that slow the growth of malaria-causing parasites in their gut, preventing transmission of the disease to humans. The genetic modification causes mosquitoes to produce compounds in their guts that stunt the growth of parasites, meaning they ...

Humans Have a Long History of Making ‘Very Bad Decisions’ to Save Animals

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T. McDonnell,  The New York Times,  2022.
Environmental reporter Tim McDonnell on the potential negative consequences of animal conservation efforts. McDonnell highlights Target Malaria’s research on gene drive to “eliminate malaria-carrying mosquitos” and quotes New Zealand researcher Philipp Messer saying that ...

Life-history traits of a fluorescent Anopheles arabiensis genetic sexing strain introgressed into South African genomic background

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N. L. Ntoyi, T. Mashatola, J. Bouyer, C. Kraupa, H. Maiga, W. Mamai, N. S. Bimbile-Somda, T. Wallner, D. O. Carvalho, G. Munhenga and H. Yamada,  Malaria Journal,  21:12. 2022.
Background South Africa has set a mandate to eliminate local malaria transmission by 2023. In pursuit of this objective a Sterile Insect Technique programme targeting the main vector Anopheles arabiensis is currently under development. Significant progress has been made towards ...

An evaluation of fusion partner proteins for paratransgenesis in Asaia bogorensis

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C. Grogan, M. Bennett and D. J. Lampe,  Plos One,  17:18. 2022.
Mosquitoes transmit many pathogens responsible for human diseases, such as malaria which is caused by parasites in the genus Plasmodium. Current strategies to control vector-transmitted diseases are increasingly undermined by mosquito and pathogen resistance, so additional ...

A confinable female-lethal population suppression system in the malaria vector, Anopheles gambiae

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A. L. Smidler, J. J. Pai, R. A. Apte, H. M. Sánchez C, R. M. Corder, E. J. Gutiérrez, N. Thakre, I. Antoshechkin, J. M. Marshall and O. S. Akbari,  bioRxiv,  2022.08.30.505861. 2022.
Malaria is among the world’s deadliest diseases, predominantly affecting sub-Saharan Africa, and killing over half a million people annually. Controlling the principal vector, the mosquito Anopheles gambiae, as well as other anophelines, is among the most effective methods to ...

What do we mean by “Target Organism” in Target Malaria’s gene drive research?

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J. B. Connolly,  Target Malaria,  2022.
In the wild and in laboratory settings, sibling mosquito species can successfully mate to produce viable offspring, regardless of whether they are vectors or not. Importantly, females, but not males, of these offspring can be fertile. Nonetheless, the likelihood of finding such ...

Population replacement gene drive characteristics for malaria elimination in a range of seasonal transmission settings: a modelling study

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S. Leung, N. Windbichler, E. A. Wenger, C. A. Bever and P. Selvaraj,  Malaria Journal,  21:226. 2022.
BACKGROUND: Gene drives are a genetic engineering method where a suite of genes is inherited at higher than Mendelian rates and has been proposed as a promising new vector control strategy to reinvigorate the fight against malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: Using an ...

Operationalizing stakeholder engagement for gene drive research in malaria elimination in Africa-translating guidance into practice

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L. Pare Toe, B. Dicko, R. Linga, N. Barry, M. Drabo, N. Sykes and D. Thizy,  Malaria Journal,  21:225. 2022.
Gene drive mosquitoes are increasingly considered a potential transformational tool for vector control of malaria mosquitoes. As part of efforts to promote responsible research in this field, a number of guidance documents have been published by the World Health Organization, ...

Gene drives and Africa’s battle against malaria

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Annonymous,  Africa Verified,  2022.
As malaria cases rise, and the effectiveness of current methods begins to fall, the WHO’s target of reducing the global malaria burden by 90% by 2030 will not be met. It is critical for new and resilient treatment, prevention, and control methods to be developed and integrated ...

A population modification gene drive targeting both Saglin and Lipophorin disables Plasmodium transmission in Anopheles mosquitoes

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E. I. Green, E. Jaouen, D. Klug, R. P. Olmo, A. Gautier, S. A. Blandin and E. Marois,  bioRxiv,  2022.07.08.499187. 2022.
Lipophorin is an essential, highly expressed lipid transporter protein that is secreted and circulates in insect hemolymph. We hijacked the Anopheles gambiae Lipophorin gene to make it co-express a single-chain version of antibody 2A10, which binds sporozoites of the malaria ...

Larval mosquito management and risk to aquatic ecosystems: A comparative approach including current tactics and gene-drive Anopheles techniques

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R. K. D. Peterson and M. G. Rolston,  Transgenic Research,  2022.
Genetic engineering of mosquitoes represents a promising tactic for reducing human suffering from malaria. Gene-drive techniques being developed that suppress or modify populations of Anopheles gambiae have the potential to be used with, or even possibly obviate, microbial and ...

Gene Drives: A Potentially New Weapon Against Mosquitoes

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M. Sherman,  Times Union Online,  2022.
Scientists have studied gene drives for more than 50 years, and to most of us this has been a well-kept secret. The development of a powerful genome editing tool in 2012, CRISPR/Cas9,1 led to recent breakthroughs in gene drive research that built on that half century’s worth ...

Active genetics comes alive

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V. M. Gantz and E. Bier,  BioEssays,  2022.
Abstract Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)-based ?active genetic? elements developed in 2015 bypassed the fundamental rules of traditional genetics. Inherited in a super-Mendelian fashion, such selfish genetic entities offered a variety of ...

Who decides whether to use gene drives against malaria-carrying mosquitoes?

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T. H. Saey,  ScienceNews,  2022.
The gene drive interferes with the insects’ ability to reproduce. It wiped out captive populations of mosquitoes in eight to 12 generations (SN: 10/27/18, p. 6) in a small lab study. In 2021, the technology worked in the large cages in Terni, Italy, too. Within as little as ...

Testing non-autonomous antimalarial gene drive effectors using self-eliminating drivers in the African mosquito vector Anopheles gambiae

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D. A. Ellis, G. Avraam, A. Hoermann, C. A. S. Wyer, Y. X. Ong, G. K. Christophides and N. Windbichler,  PLOS Genetics,  18:e1010244. 2022.
Author summary Gene drive is a method that allows the genetic modification of entire populations of harmful organisms. Their application to tackle invasive species, agricultural pests or insect disease vectors has been suggested. For example, they could reduce the capacity of ...

Modifying mosquitoes to suppress disease transmission: Is the long wait over?

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J. R. Powell,  Genetics,  2022.
For more than 50 years it has been a dream of medical entomologists and public health workers to control diseases like malaria and dengue fever by modifying, through genetics and other methods, the arthropods that transmit them to humans. A brief synopsis of the history of ...

Unfolding the Next Frontier of Innovation in Malaria: The Way Forward

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ETHealthWorld,  ET Healthworld,  2022.
Malaria innovation is on the verge of a challenging yet exciting frontier. Therefore, to ramp up current innovatins and expand effective therapeutic and prevenitive methods, the governments, international organizations, and the private sector must work together. Additionally, ...

Fighting Malaria With Genetically Modified Mosquitoes

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K. Ferris,  Liberty Nation News,  2022.
Nearly half of the world's population inhabits an area at risk for malaria – but scientists hope to change that. Through the engineering of gene drives, malaria-transmitting mosquitoes could be irradiated completely. That might sound like a great idea, but scientists and ...

Recommendations for environmental risk assessment of gene drive applications for malaria vector control

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J. B. Connolly, J. D. Mumford, D. C. M. Glandorf, S. Hartley, O. T. Lewis, S. W. Evans, G. Turner, C. Beech, N. Sykes, M. B. Coulibaly, J. Romeis, J. L. Teem, W. Tonui, B. Lovett, A. Mankad, A. Mnzava, S. Fuchs, T. D. Hackett, W. G. Landis, J. M. Marshall,  Malar J,  21:152. 2022.
Building on an exercise that identified potential harms from simulated investigational releases of a population suppression gene drive for malaria vector control, a series of online workshops identified nine recommendations to advance future environmental risk assessment of gene ...

Gene Drives: The advanced science fiction technology used to fight malaria mosquitoes explained

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Anonymous,  NewsBeezer,  2022.
Scientists are using the most advanced form of genetic engineering to eradicate a population of malaria-carrying mosquitoes by rendering the females infertile. Scientists introduced a lab-tweaked gene (a gene created using Gene Drive) into an organism that automatically ...

The sci-fi technology tackling malarial mosquitos

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Anonymous,  The Star,  2022.
Environmental campaigner Liz O'Neill doesn't mince her words about gene drives - the next generation of genetic modification (GM) technology. "It is extremely worrying," says the director of UK anti-GM pressure group, GM Freeze. "To release something that has been specifically ...

The fight against malaria

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F. Ammache,  Year 2049,  2022.
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 ...

New weapons to fight malaria transmission: A historical view

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W. Huang, S.-J. Cha and M. Jacobs-Lorena,  Entomological Research,  2022.
The stagnation of our fight against malaria in recent years, mainly due to the development of mosquito insecticide resistance, argues for the urgent development of new weapons. The dramatic evolution of molecular tools in the last few decades led to a better understanding of ...

The Financialisation of Malaria in Africa: Burkina Faso, rogue capital & GM/gene drive mosquitoes

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S. Mentz-Lagrange and S. Swanepoel,  African Centre for Biodiversity,  2022.
This paper seeks to understand the financialisation of malaria as a vehicle for rogue capital in a context of a weakened state (through capture, corruption and coups) and the power that limits effective interventions. It shows how malaria, along with other diseases, is ...

Genetically altered mosquitoes to close gaps in malaria fight

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M. Murigi,  People Daily,  2022.
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 ...

Role of CRISPR Technology in Gene Editing of Emerging and Re-emerging Vector Borne Disease

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K. K. Mahto, P. Prasad, M. Kumar, H. Dubey and A. Ranjan,  Recent Advances in Pathogen Interactions, Immunity, and Vector Control Strategies,  2022.
Vector borne diseases are rampant across the world. Due to spread and estab-lishment of vector species in different geographical areas, vector adaptation and resistance towards many insecticides the only option left is vector control for vari-ous vector borne diseases. Recent ...

New frontiers in vector control

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WHO,  World Health Organization,  2022.
Ever since Sir Ronald Ross discovered malaria parasites in an Anopheles mosquito in 1897, controlling insect vectors has played an increasingly important role in reducing the burden of the disease. For decades after World War II, indoor residual spraying (IRS) with insecticides ...

Podcast: How do you solve a problem like malaria?

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A. Jha,  The Economist,  2022.
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

Expanding the flexibility of genome editing approaches for population control of the malaria mosquito

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N. Kranjc,  Imperial College London-PhD,  2022.
Discovery and adaptation of CRISPR-Cas systems for genome editing have allowed us to gain an efficient and yet simple tool for genetic manipulation in various fields of molecular biology and biotechnology. One of the most promising applications is the use of CRISPR-Cas9 ...

Squashing malaria could save as many lives as covid-19 has taken

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Anonymous,  The Economist,  2022.
When it comes to covid-19 vaccines, poor countries in Africa have been stuck at the back of the queue. However, the continent’s long wait for another immunological miracle appears to be drawing to a close. Later this year, the world’s first malaria vaccine is scheduled for a ...

Should we kill every mosquito on Earth?

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J. Phelan,  LiveScience,  2022.
Before you grab that can of bug spray, know this: While some mosquitoes are dangerous to us, not all are. Even those that are sometimes harmful tend not to feed on humans, preferring honeydew, plant sap and nectar, according to Mosquito Joe, a mosquito control company. There are ...

A UC malaria initiative program receives grant for work researching genetically engineered mosquitoes

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S. Slater,  The California Aggie,  2022.
Malaria, a mosquito-borne infectious disease, was discovered in 1880, and has remained widespread in tropical regions around the equator including parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America, resulting in thousands of deaths and a significant blow to economic development in these ...

Regulation of genetically engineered (GE) mosquitoes as a public health tool: a public health ethics analysis

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Z. Meghani,  Globalization and Health,  18:21. 2022.
In recent years, genetically engineered (GE) mosquitoes have been proposed as a public health measure against the high incidence of mosquito-borne diseases among the poor in regions of the global South. While uncertainties as well as risks for humans and ecosystems are entailed ...

Evaluation of anti-malaria potency of wild and genetically modified Enterobacter cloacae expressing effector proteins in Anopheles stephensi

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H. Dehghan, S. H. Mosa-Kazemi, B. Yakhchali, N. Maleki-Ravasan, H. Vatandoost and M. A. Oshaghi,  Parasites and Vectors,  15:63. 2022.
Malaria is one of the most lethal infectious diseases in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Paratransgenesis using symbiotic bacteria offers a sustainable and environmentally friendly strategy to combat this disease. In the study reported here, we evaluated the ...

Gene drive mosquitoes can aid malaria elimination by retarding Plasmodium sporogonic development

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A. Hoermann, T. Habtewold, P. Selvaraj, G. Del Corsano, P. Capriotti, M. G. Inghilterra, K. M. Temesgen, G. K. Christophides and N. Windbichler,  bioRxiv,  2022.02.15.480588. 2022.
Gene drives hold promise for the genetic control of malaria vectors. The development of vector population modification strategies hinges on the availability of effector mechanisms impeding parasite development in transgenic mosquitoes. We augmented a midgut gene of the malaria ...

C-type lectin 4 regulates broad-spectrum melanization-based refractoriness to malaria parasites

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M. L. Simões, Y. Dong, G. Mlambo and G. Dimopoulos,  PLOS Biology,  20:e3001515. 2022.
Anopheles gambiae melanization-based refractoriness to the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum has rarely been observed in either laboratory or natural conditions, in contrast to the rodent model malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei that can become completely melanized by ...

Gene-drive mosquitoes, a prospect for future malaria control

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S. A. Monawwer, A. O. I. Alzubaidi, F. Yasmin, S. M. Q. Haimour, S. M. I. Shay and I. Ullah,  Pan African Medical Journal,  41:2-6. 2022.
Despite major developments in malaria control over the past two decades, the disease continues to scourge the human population across the globe. Rising concerns such as insecticide resistance amongst vector mosquitoes are a cause of huge fear amongst healthcare providers and ...

Could Crispr Flip the Switch on Insects’ Resistance to Pesticides?

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E. Mullin,  WIRED,  2022.
WHILE THE COVID-19 pandemic raged across the world in 2020, another disease was quietly infecting more than 220 million people on the continent of Africa: malaria. That year, the disease led to more than 600,000 deaths, most of them children. Caused by the parasite Plasmodium, ...

Crisp Genes

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J. Mckenna,  The Simple Science,  2022.
Imagine we had the power to use genetic technologies to stop one of humanity’s most dangerous predators. What is that predator? Sharks? Crocodiles? Snakes? Think far, far smaller. It is in fact, the mosquito.Mosquitos cause all sorts of nasty diseases like the Zika Virus, ...

Scientists find transmission chain-breaker, give new hope for fight against malaria

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ANI,  ANI,  2022.
A recent study, published online in 'PLoS Biology', has revealed that blocking a key protein found in Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes -- the principal vector for malaria transmission to humans in Africa could thwart infection with malaria parasites and thus prevent them from ...

CRISPR Technology Can Eliminate Disease-Spreading Mosquitoes

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S. Krishana,  Now,  2022.
Scientists have uncovered a new technique they call the “precision-guided sterile insect technique,” or pgSIT. While most CRISPR procedures affect organisms that spread diseases by passing a gene change down generations, this system is more limited. It targets male mosquito ...

Genetic strategy reverses insecticide resistance

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M. Aguilera,  Phys Org,  2022.
University of California San Diego biologists have now developed a method that reverses insecticide resistance using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. As described in Nature Communications, researchers Bhagyashree Kaduskar, Raja Kushwah and Professor Ethan Bier with the Tata Institute for ...

Reversing insecticide resistance with allelic-drive in Drosophila melanogaster

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B. Kaduskar, R. B. S. Kushwah, A. Auradkar, A. Guichard, M. Li, J. B. Bennett, A. H. F. Julio, J. M. Marshall, C. Montell and E. Bier,  Nature Communications,  13:291. 2022.
A recurring target-site mutation identified in various pests and disease vectors alters the voltage gated sodium channel (vgsc) gene (often referred to as knockdown resistance or kdr) to confer resistance to commonly used insecticides, pyrethroids and DDT. The ubiquity of kdr ...

The Need for a Tiered Registry for US Gene Drive Governance

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K. L. Warmbrod, A. L. Kobokovich, R. West, G. K. Gronvall and M. Montague,  Health Security,  2022.
A great deal of attention has been focused on the potential risks of gene drives, the kinds of biosafety protections they may require, and how they may be reversed; however, less attention has been paid to the systems that would be useful to have in place in the future, when ...

Preparing an Insectary in Burkina Faso to Support Research in Genetic Technologies for Malaria Control

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C. Guissou, M. M. Quinlan, R. Sanou, R. K. Ouédraogo, M. Namountougou and A. Diabaté,  Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases,  2022.
The Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS) of Burkina Faso, West Africa, was the first African institution to import transgenic mosquitoes for research purposes. A shift from the culture of mosquito research to regulated biotechnology research and considerable ...

Driving the Self-Destruction of Malaria-Transmitting Mosquitos

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H. Aliouche,  News Medical Life Sciences,  2021.
Self-destruction of malaria-transmitting mosquitoes can be driven by gene drives deployed to manipulate natural populations. In particular, they can be used to reduce the number of individuals in a population or to modify their composition; this is particularly useful when such ...

Integrated Management of Malaria Vectors in Africa

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R. Mbabazi, K. Maredia, B. B. El-Sayed, A. K. Babumba, M. Savadogo and O. Akinbo,  Genetically Modified and other Innovative Vector Control Technologies,  2021.
Malaria disease is a major public health burden in Africa. The control of malaria vectors is a critical component for prevention, management, and eradication of malaria disease. This chapter presents information on the current status of malaria vector control in Africa with ...

Measuring Public Attitudes to Releases of Transgenic Mosquitoes for Disease Control, with Special Reference to Dengue and Malaria

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L. A. De Las Llagas and M. S. T. Gunigundo,  Genetically Modified and other Innovative Vector Control Technologies,  2021.
Since the advent of DDT in public health and agriculture, science leaped forward with revolutionary technology such as gene drive or editing, thus making it possible to develop alternative approaches to address vector-borne diseases. However, their utilization and sustenance in ...

Safe Application of Genetically Modified Mosquito (GMM) to Combat Dengue and Chikungunya Depends on Socioeconomic Status and Social Acceptance in the Developing Countries: A Comprehensive Analysis

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M. N. Islam,  Genetically Modified and other Innovative Vector Control Technologies,  2021.
The emerging and re-emerging vector-borne diseases are a serious public health problem throughout the world. It has been observed that more than 100 countries and approximately half of the world’s population are at risk on vector-borne diseases (VBDs). The global burden of the ...

Malaria vector control tools in emergency settings: What do experts think? Results from a DELPHI survey

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C. Boete, S. Burza, E. Lasry, S. Moriana and W. Robertson,  Conflict and Health,  15:11. 2021.
Background The use and implementation of novel tools for malaria control such as long lasting impregnated bednets (LLINs) and Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) over the last decade has contributed to a substantial reduction in malaria burden globally. However numerous challenges ...

Gene Drives For Malaria Control And Elimination

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Annonymous,  Health Tech,  2021.
There is notable ongoing research and prioritization of gene drive technology in Africa for Malaria control and elimination. Currently, there is ongoing gene drive mosquito research in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali and Uganda led by the Target Malaria consortium. While laboratory ...

Modeling impact and cost-effectiveness of driving-Y gene drives for malaria elimination in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

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N. Metchanun, C. Borgemeister, G. Amzati, J. von Braun, M. Nikolov, P. Selvaraj and J. Gerardin,  Evolutionary Applications,  2021.
Malaria elimination will be challenging in countries that currently continue to bear high malaria burden. Sex-ratio distorting gene drives, such as driving-Y, could play a role in an integrated elimination strategy if they can effectively suppress vector populations. Using a ...

The economic value of genetically engineered mosquitoes as a Malaria control strategy depends on local transmission rates

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K. Lacy, K. A. Schaefer, D. P. Scheitrum and E. Y. Klein,  Biotechnology Journal,  10. 2021.
This paper assesses the economic value of genetically engineered (GE) Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes as a malaria control strategy. We use an epidemiological-economic model of malaria transmission to evaluate this technology for a range of village-level transmission settings. In ...

The Potential for a Released Autosomal X-Shredder Becoming a Driving-Y Chromosome and Invasively Suppressing Wild Populations of Malaria Mosquitoes

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Y. Alcalay, S. Fuchs, R. Galizi, F. Bernardini, R. E. Haghighat-Khah, D. B. Rusch, J. R. Adrion, M. W. Hahn, P. Tortosa, R. Rotenberry and P. A. Papathanos,  Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology,  9. 2021.
Sex-ratio distorters based on X-chromosome shredding are more efficient than sterile male releases for population suppression. X-shredding is a form of sex distortion that skews spermatogenesis of XY males towards the preferential transmission of Y-bearing gametes, resulting in a ...

Scientists eye gene drive technology to combat malaria

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S. Buguzi,  Sci Dev Net,  2021.
Scientists are hoping that adoption of gene drive technology could reduce mosquito populations as they call for new innovations in the fight against malaria, a fatal disease widespread in Sub-Saharan Africa. The World Health Organization (WHO) says the Africa region accounted ...

Podcast: Malaria Gene Drive

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S. Hartley, S. Neema and C. Opesen,  University of Exeter Business School,  2021.
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 ...

Gene drives in malaria control: what we need to know

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R. Mudziwapasi, M. C. Changara, A. Ndudzo, T. Kaseke, F. Godobo, F. L. Mtemeli, R. Shoko, F. Songwe, S. Ndlovu and S. Sandra Mlambo,  Biotechnology and Biotechnological Equipment,  35:1623-1631. 2021.
Gene drives are being used to enhance a DNA sequence?s likelihood of passing between generations via sexual reproduction. Gene drives can be deployed to manipulate natural populations. They can be used to suppress populations by reducing the number of individuals in a population ...

Two years of laboratory studies on the non gene drive genetically modified sterile male mosquitoes concluded successfully in Mali

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M. Coulibaly,  Target Malaria,  2021.
The Target Malaria Mali team at the Malaria Research and Training Centre (MRTC) based at the University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako (USTTB) is proud to have been the first Malian research team to work on non gene drive genetically modified sterile male ...

Malaria modeling and optimal control using sterile insect technique and insecticide-treated net

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L. Cai, L. Bao, L. Rose, J. Summers and W. Ding,  Applicable Analysis,  2021.
We investigate a malaria transmission model with SEIR (susceptible-exposed-infected-recovered) classes for the human population, SEI (susceptible-exposed-infected) classes for the wild mosquitoes and an additional class for the sterile mosquitoes. The basic reproduction number ...

Will freeing ourselves (forever) from mosquitoes soon be a realizable “dream”? Pros and cons of an epochal turning point – breaking latest news

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Annonymous,  Breaking Latest News,  2021.
Also true for a dangerous insect like the mosquito: due to the pathologies of which vector, such as the malaria, the dengue o la yellow fever, every year in the world about 800 thousand people die. There are therefore quite a few reasons to want to get rid of it, not just the ...

Population replacement gene drive characteristics for malaria elimination in a range of seasonal transmission settings: a modeling study

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S. Leung, N. Windbichler, E. Wenger, C. Bever and P. Selvaraj,  bioRxiv,  2021.11.01.466856. 2021.
Genetically engineering mosquitoes is a promising new vector control strategy to reinvigorate the fight against malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using an agent-based model of malaria transmission with vector genetics, we examine the impacts of releasing population-replacement gene ...

Small-scale release of non-gene drive mosquitoes in Burkina Faso: from engagement implementation to assessment, a learning journey

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L. Pare Toe, N. Barry, A. D. Ky, S. Kekele, W. Meda, K. Bayala, M. Drabo, D. Thizy and A. Diabate,  Malaria Journal,  20:395. 2021.
This study provides a review of engagement activities relevant to field trials on non-gene drive genetically-modified mosquitoes as well as an assessment framework-using both qualitative and quantitative studies as well as an audit procedure. The latter was implemented to ...

Fighting the world’s most deadly animal: the mosquito

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M. Rozenbaum,  Understanding Animal Research,  2021.
n the first, sterile male mosquitos are mass produced and released into the wild. These sterile males mate with wild females who then lay sterile eggs which will not hatch. This approach has been shown to reduce wild populations by as much as 90% in trials with Aedes aegypt. The ...

Gene drive revolution: How genetically tweaked mosquitoes could tip the balance in the battle to contain malaria

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F. Okumu,  Genetic Literacy Project,  2021.
In 2016, a World Health Organisation (WHO) panel concluded that even with the best use of current approaches, there would still be 11 million malaria cases in 2050. What’s needed are longer-term integrated strategies to complement current methods. These may include large-scale ...

Stakeholders call for adoption of emerging technologies to fight Malaria

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C. Muchira,  KBC,  2021.
Health stakeholders are calling for adoption of innovative and emerging technologies such as gene drive to change the focus of the war on malaria from just controlling its spread to actual elimination. The African Institute for Development Policy and other stakeholders have urged ...

Microsporidia MB is found predominantly associated with Anopheles gambiae s.s and Anopheles coluzzii in Ghana

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J. Akorli, E. A. Akorli, S. N. A. Tetteh, G. K. Amlalo, M. Opoku, R. Pwalia, M. Adimazoya, D. Atibilla, S. Pi-Bansa, J. Chabi and S. K. Dadzie,  Scientific Reports,  11:5. 2021.
A vertically transmitted microsporidian, Microsporidia MB, with the ability to disrupt Plasmodium development was reported in Anopheles arabiensis from Kenya, East Africa. To demonstrate its range of incidence, archived DNA samples from 7575 Anopheles mosquitoes collected from ...

Mosquito transgenesis for malaria control

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S. Dong, Y. Dong, M. L. Simões and G. Dimopoulos,  Trends in Parasitology,  2021.
Malaria is one of the deadliest diseases. Because of the ineffectiveness of current malaria-control methods, several novel mosquito vector-based control strategies have been proposed to supplement existing control strategies. Mosquito transgenesis and gene drive have emerged as ...

Genetically changed mosquitoes could transform Africa’s long fight against malaria

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L. Singh,  ForumIAS,  2021.
In nature, there’s a phenomenon called gene drive which operates in the process of reproduction. This is when a genetic element is able to increase the chance that it will be inherited by offspring. The general underlying principle of all gene drives is an organism that will ...

Africa must not rest until Malaria rests: What is the role of emerging technologies?

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R. Oronje,  AFIDEP,  2021.
As we mark the World Mosquito Day today, it is a sad reminder that Malaria still kills hundreds of thousands of people every year, majority of these people in Africa. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Malaria killed 409,000 people in 2019, and 94% of these deaths ...

The Complex Lives of Mosquitoes: The Key for Malaria Control

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F. Okumu,  ISGlobal,  2021.
Mosquitoes spread diseases to millions of people around the world, yet they remain poorly understood by most. Studying their biology and behaviours can help us combat, and eventually eliminate, dangerous diseases such as malaria and dengue fever.There are nearly 3,500 species of ...

Mobilizing Mutant Mosquitoes to Fight Malaria

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D. Mclaughlin and J. Recht,  United Nations Foundation,  2021.
World Mosquito Day today marks the 1897 discovery by Sir Ronald Ross that female Anopheles mosquitoes spread malaria. Since that breakthrough, the world has fought this deadly disease through scientific research and new technology. While astounding progress has been made against ...

Identifying Sites for Testing Modified Mosquitoes as a Strategy to Eradicate Malaria

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A. Fell,  UC Davis News,  2021.
In a newly published article in the journal Evolutionary Applications Professor Greg Lanzaro and his team at the Vector Genetics Laboratory, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, set forth a framework for the selection of field sites in Africa best suited for testing ...

New mosquito control tools are critical

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L. Braack,  Open Access Government,  2021.
Globally, we are making slow headway in the fight against malaria, but there has been progress, nonetheless. Since 2000, 39 countries and territories have managed to rid themselves of malaria; the most recent is China. Existing tools can achieve local elimination, but the battle ...

Scientists eradicate malaria-transmitting mosquitos using genetic engineering which make females infertile in new study which takes one step closer to wiping out the disease worldwide.

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C. Ciaccia,  Daily Mail,  2021.
Malaria kills nearly 500,000 people globally every year, but scientists have now figured out a way to use CRISPR gene-editing technology to make female mosquitoes infertile, described as a 'game-changer' for ending the deadly disease. Researchers from Imperial College London, ...

Breakthrough in non-GMO malaria control

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C. Robinson and J. Matthews,  GM Watch,  2021.
A just-published study carried out in a high-security lab claims to show that a CRISPR gene drive (a way of forcing a heritable genetic modification through a whole species or population) can crash populations of malaria-spreading mosquitoes. But why crash mosquito populations ...

Genetic engineering may rid world of malaria-transmitting mosquitoes

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Y. Steinbuch,  New York Post,  2021.
Scientists have eradicated a population of malaria-transmitting mosquitoes by using genetic engineering to make the females infertile — in what the lead researcher called a possible “game-changer in bringing about malaria elimination.” A team of researchers — led by ...

Gene-Drive Technology Could Decimate Malaria-Carrying Mosquitoes–Scientists Use CRISPR to Modify the Insects’ Genes

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J. Henry,  Tech Times,  2021.
Gene-drive technology can now suppress the growing numbers of mosquitoes that carry malaria. A group of researchers discovered that this gene-editing technique can eradicate the vectors that could rapidly populate in a particular environment. A mosquito (Anopheles albimanus) is ...

Malaria-carrying mosquitoes could be bred out of existence using ‘gene drive’ technology

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A. Wilkins,  METRO,  2021.
Malaria-carrying mosquitoes have been eliminated using ‘gene drive’ technology in a nature-like environment, in a world-first study. By altering a gene that blocks female mosquito reproduction, and allowing that gene to spread, researchers found they could ensure complete ...

Scientists reveal controversial genetically modified mosquitoes in high-security lab

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The Frontier Post,  The Frontier Post,  2021.
Many years of additional research will be needed to prove the approach works and the mosquitoes would be safe to release into the wild. The project would also require regulatory approval and agreement by local residents in areas where those mosquitoes live, mostly in sub-Saharan ...

Genetic engineering test with mosquitoes ‘may be game changer’ in eliminating malaria

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L. Geddes,  The Guardian,  2021.
Scientists have successfully wiped out a population of malaria-transmitting mosquitoes by using a radical form of genetic engineering to render the females infertile – in the most advanced and largest ever test of use of the technology to fight the disease. As well as bringing ...

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

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R. Stein,  NPR,  2021.
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 ...

A lab experiment shows that we could engineer malaria-carrying mosquitoes to kill themselves off

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A. Micu,  ZME Science,  2021.
A new paper showcases how genetic engineering can be used to cause populations of malaria-spreading mosquitoes to self-destroy. An international research effort has shown, in the context of a lab experiment, that male mosquitoes engineered to carry a certain strand of DNA can ...

Malarial mosquitoes suppressed in experiments that mimic natural environments

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H. Dunning,  Phys Org,  2021.
Researchers have shown "gene drive" technology, which spreads a genetic modification blocking female reproduction, works in natural-like settings. The team, led by researchers from Imperial College London, Polo GGB and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine were able to suppress ...

Horizontal Transmission of the Symbiont Microsporidia MB in Anopheles arabiensis

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G. Nattoh, T. Maina, E. E. Makhulu, L. Mbaisi, E. Mararo, F. G. Otieno, T. Bukhari, T. O. Onchuru, E. Teal, J. Paredes, J. L. Bargul, D. M. Mburu, E. A. Onyango, G. Magoma, S. P. Sinkins and J. K. Herren,  Frontiers in Microbiology,  12. 2021.
The recently discovered Anopheles symbiont, Microsporidia MB, has a strong malaria transmission-blocking phenotype in Anopheles arabiensis, the predominant Anopheles gambiae species complex member in many active transmission areas in eastern Africa. The ability of Microsporidia ...

Gene-drive suppression of mosquito populations in large cages as a bridge between lab and field

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A. Hammond, P. Pollegioni, T. Persampieri, A. North, R. Minuz, A. Trusso, A. Bucci, K. Kyrou, I. Morianou, A. Simoni, T. Nolan, R. Müller and A. Crisanti,  Nature Communications,  12:4589. 2021.
CRISPR-based gene-drives targeting the gene doublesex in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae effectively suppressed the reproductive capability of mosquito populations reared in small laboratory cages. To bridge the gap between laboratory and the field, this gene-drive ...

Selection of sites for field trials of genetically engineered mosquitoes with gene drive

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G. C. Lanzaro, M. Campos, M. Crepeau, A. Cornel, A. Estrada, H. Gripkey, Z. Haddad, A. Kormos and S. Palomares,  Evolutionary Applications,  15. 2021.
Novel malaria control strategies using genetically engineered mosquitoes (GEMs) are on the horizon. Population modification is one approach wherein mosquitoes are engineered with genes rendering them refractory to the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, coupled with a ...

GM mosquitoes to fight malaria

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I. Khisa,  The INDEPENDENT,  2021.
Scientists at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) plans to undertake a research on genetically engineered mosquitoes to tackle malaria. Dr. Jonathan Kayondo, the principal investigator Target Malaria Uganda and Senior Research Officer at UVRI had an email interview with ...

Combating mosquito-borne diseases using genetic control technologies

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G.-H. Wang, S. Gamez, R. R. Raban, J. M. Marshall, L. Alphey, M. Li, J. L. Rasgon and O. S. Akbari,  Nature Communications,  12:4388. 2021.
Mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue and malaria, pose significant global health burdens. Unfortunately, current control methods based on insecticides and environmental maintenance have fallen short of eliminating the disease burden. Scalable, deployable, genetic-based ...

Gene Drives – Engineering the Wild

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L. Sharratt,  Sentinel,  2021.
So far, genetically engineered organisms have been mostly limited to agricultural use, with partial success. Around the world, a few major crops (mostly corn, soy, and cotton) are genetically engineered, predominantly for herbicide tolerance and insect resistance. However, the ...

Africa Turning to Gene Drive Technology for Malaria Elimination

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M. Hearty,  Science Africa,  2021.
With Africa accounting for nine out of ten malaria cases globally, the continent is turning to gene drive technology to control the disease. This is according to a decision made by African leaders at the 29th Summit of Heads of States and Governments of the African Union held in ...

A new tool in the global fight against malaria

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S. Laux,  Brighter World,  2021.
McMaster researchers with the Institute on Ethics & Policy for Innovation (IEPI) have played a key role in developing updated international guidelines that will inform research and development on genetically modified mosquitoes – an initiative that could significantly affect ...

Fighting disease: How are genetically engineered mosquitoes regulated?

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A. Julie,  Global News,  2021.
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 ...

The (Losing) Battle Against Mosquitoes In Texas

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J. Clayton,  Texas Public Radio,  2021.
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 ...

CRISPR-mediated knock-in of transgenes into the malaria vector Anopheles funestus

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C. Quinn, A. Anthousi, C. Wondji and T. Nolan,  G3 Genes Genomes Genetics,  11. 2021.
The ability to introduce mutations, or transgenes, of choice to precise genomic locations has revolutionized our ability to understand how genes and organisms work. In many mosquito species that are vectors of various human diseases, the advent of CRISPR genome editing tools has ...

Stable high-density and maternally inherited Wolbachia infections in Anopheles moucheti and Anopheles demeilloni mosquitoes

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T. Walker, S. Quek, C. L. Jeffries, J. Bandibabone, V. Dhokiya, R. Bamou, M. Kristan, L. A. Messenger, A. Gidley, E. A. Hornett, E. R. Anderson, C. Cansado-Utrilla, S. Hegde, C. Bantuzeko, J. C. Stevenson, N. F. Lobo, S. C. Wagstaff, C. A. Nkondjio, S. R.,  Current Biology,  31:2310. 2021.
Wolbachia, a widespread bacterium that can reduce pathogen transmission in mosquitoes, has recently been reported to be present in Anopheles (An.) species. In wild populations of the An. gambiae complex, the primary vectors of Plasmodium malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa, Wolbachia ...

European Parliament calls for ban on gene drive technology

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Save Our Seeds,  Save Our Seeds,  2021.
The European Parliament yesterday confirmedi it‘s precautionary stance towards the use of a new genetic engineering technology called gene drive. In its report on the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, adopted at the European Parliament’s plenary on 08.06.2021, ...

Vector control: Discovery of Wolbachia in malaria vectors

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P. A. Ross and A. A. Hoffmann,  Current Biology,  31:R738-R740. 2021.
Wolbachia bacteria are being widely released for suppression of dengue transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. Walker, Quek, Jeffries and colleagues present robust evidence for natural Wolbachia infections in malaria-vectoring Anopheles mosquitoes, paving the way for new ...

Genetically modified mosquitoes and Africa

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S. Bagcchi,  Sci Dev Net,  2021.
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 ...

‘Death gene’ in genetically modified male mosquitoes

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J. Goddard,  The Times,  2021.
Tens of thousands of bio-engineered mosquitoes have taken flight in the Florida Keys under a pilot project that aims to breed insects programmed with a “death switch”. Genetically modified males produced by Oxitec — a British-founded biotechnology company — have begun ...

What is wrong in extinguishing a species? Charting the Ethical Challenges of using Gene-Drive Technologies to eradicate A. gambiae vector populations

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M. Annoni and T. Pievani,  Biolaw Journal-Rivista Di Biodiritto,  2021.
This article analyses three ethical arguments against the use of gene-drive technologies to control for, and possibly extinguish, a particular species of vector mosquitoes (Anopheles gambiae) causing the malaria infection. We conclude that none of these arguments is truly ...

Improving mosquito control strategies with population genomics

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T. L. Schmidt, N. M. Endersby-Harshman and A. A. Hoffmann,  Trends in Parasitology,  37:907-921. 2021.
Mosquito control strategies increasingly apply knowledge from population genomics research. This review highlights recent applications to three research domains: mosquito invasions, insecticide resistance evolution, and rear and release programs. Current research trends follow ...

Why the EU should back research into gene drive – even if Europe never uses it

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R. Müller,  The Brussels Times,  2021.
As the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy reaches the European Parliament, it has reopened a worrying debate about research into gene drive technology, a tool which could pave the way for biasing the inheritance of desired genetic traits through targeted species. Advances in this kind ...

Malaria-Resistant Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae); The Principle is Proven, But Will the Effectors Be Effective?

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Z. N. Adelman and B. B. Kojin,  Journal of Medical Entomology,  58:1997-2005. 2021.
Over the last few decades, a substantial number of anti-malarial effector genes have been evaluated for their ability to block parasite infection in the mosquito vector. While many of these approaches have yielded significant effects on either parasite intensity or prevalence of ...

Burkina Faso Testing Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to Curb Malaria

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H. Wilkins,  Voice of America,  2021.
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 ...

Small-Cage Laboratory Trials of Genetically-Engineered Anopheline Mosquitoes

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R. Carballar-Lejarazú, T. B. Pham, V. Bottino-Rojas, A. Adolfi and A. A. James,  J Vis Exp,  2021.
Control of mosquito-borne pathogens using genetically-modified vectors has been proposed as a promising tool to complement conventional control strategies. CRISPR-based homing gene drive systems have made transgenic technologies more accessible within the scientific community. ...

First Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Released in U.S. Are Hatching Now

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D. Coffey,  Scientific American,  2021.
This week, mosquito eggs placed in the Florida Keys are expected to hatch tens of thousands of genetically modified mosquitoes, a result of the first U.S. release of such insects in the wild. A biotechnology firm called Oxitec delivered the eggs in late April as part of a ...

In a World-First, Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Are Hatching in the US

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B. Bergan,  INTERSTING ENGINEERING,  2021.
Mosquito eggs placed in the Florida Keys are about to hatch tens of thousands of genetically altered mosquitos, the first such release of "synthetic" insects in the world, according to an initial report from Scientific American. Pilot program for genetically modified mosquitoes ...

A natural symbiotic bacterium drives mosquito refractoriness to Plasmodium infection via secretion of an antimalarial lipase

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H. Gao, L. Bai, Y. M. Jiang, W. Huang, L. L. Wang, S. G. Li, G. D. Zhu, D. Q. Wang, Z. H. Huang, X. S. Li, J. Cao, L. B. Jiang, M. Jacobs-Lorena, S. Zhan and S. B. Wang,  Nature Microbiology,  25. 2021.
The stalling global progress in the fight against malaria prompts the urgent need to develop new intervention strategies. Whilst engineered symbiotic bacteria have been shown to confer mosquito resistance to parasite infection, a major challenge for field implementation is to ...

What Are GMO Mosquitoes and What Is Their Purpose?

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A. Krosofsky,  GREENMATTERS,  2021.
Scientists have made GMO corn, strawberries, even many types of farm animals. Now, it seems, they have managed to genetically modify mosquitoes as well. But what is the purpose of GMO mosquitoes, and why would scientists go out of their way to create something that is already a ...

Selection of Sites for Field Trials of Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes with Gene Drive

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G. C. Lanzaro, M. Campos, M. Crepeau, A. Cornel, A. Estrada, H. Gripkey, Z. Haddad, A. Kormos, S. Palomares and W. Sharpee,  bioRxiv,  2021.04.28.441877. 2021.
Novel malaria control strategies using genetically engineered mosquitoes (GEMs) are on the horizon. Population modification is one approach wherein mosquitoes are engineered with genes rendering them refractory to the malaria parasite coupled with a low-threshold, Cas9-based gene ...

“Maskandi experience”: exploring the use of a cultural song for community engagement in preparation for a pilot Sterile Insect Technique release programme for malaria vector control in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa 2019

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P. N. Manana, S. Jewett, J. Zikhali, D. Dlamini, N. Mabaso, Z. Mlambo, R. Ngobese and G. Munhenga,  Malaria Journal,  20:11. 2021.
Background An assessment of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) as a complementary malaria vector control tool, is at an advanced stage in South Africa. The technique involves the release of laboratory-reared sterilized male mosquitoes of the major malaria vector Anopheles ...

Does Gene Technology Offer Potential to Wipe Out Malaria?

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Anonymous,  AFIDEP,  2021.
The persisting high numbers of Malaria deaths and illnesses mean that the current tools will not get us to zero Malaria. For this reason, experts have continued to explore new tools for Malaria elimination. The gene drive technology is one of the tools being explored for Malaria ...

CRISPR may help curb malaria by altering a mosquito’s gut genes, new study suggests

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Cornell Alliance for Science,  Genetic Literacy Project,  2021.
Altering a mosquito’s gut genes to make them spread antimalarial genes to the next generation of their species shows promise as an approach to curb malaria, suggests a preliminary study published in eLife. The study is the latest in a series of steps toward using CRISPR-Cas9 ...

Fighting mosquitoes with mosquitoes

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W. Feng,  The Daily Targum,  2021.
When you think about the animal that has killed the greatest number of humans in the world, you generally tend to think of large predators. Is it perhaps the great white shark or maybe the cute but deadly hippopotamus? While these animals are certainly deadly, the number of ...

Eliminating malaria via a simple genetic modification

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S. Gunn,  Front Line Genomics,  2021.
Despite decades worth of research and efforts, data from 2015 onwards suggests that there has been no significant progress in reducing global malaria cases. Every year, around 400,00 people die from malaria, with over 90% of cases being within sub-Saharan Africa. The rise of ...

This Malaria Preventing Mosquito Is Not A GMO But Is A Science Boost For Nature – Will Activists Want To Block It?

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H. Campbell,  science 2.0,  2021.
Mosquitoes like Aedes aegypti don't have any value ecologically. If Thanos snapped them out of existence tomorrow there is nothing they do that won't immediately be taken up by 3,000 other mosquito species, not to mention 25,000 bee species when it comes to pollination. The ...

Breeding Malaria Out: Scientists Engineer Mosquitos to Spread Antimalaria Genes

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L. Papadopoulos,  INTERSTING ENGINEERING,  2021.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), malaria is a "serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito which feeds on humans." There are four types of malaria parasites: Plasmodium falciparum, P. ...

Curbing Malaria’s Spread by Genetic Engineering

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Anonymous,  Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News,  2021.
There is an urgent need to find new ways to combat the growing mosquito resistance to pesticides and malaria parasite resistance to antimalarial drugs. Gene drives are being tested as a new approach. In a new study, researchers from the Imperial College London reported that their ...

New genetic modification could cut malaria spread

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Staff Writers,  MALAYSIA NOW,  2021.
Altering a mosquito’s gut genes to make them spread antimalarial genes to the next generation of their species shows promise as an approach to curb malaria, suggests a preliminary study published in eLife on Tuesday. The study is the latest in a series of steps being taken ...

Researchers Using Mutant Mosquitoes To End Malaria, Which Kills 4 Lakh Per Year

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M. Mohanti,  India Times,  2021.
Every year, more than 22 crore people get infected with malaria and more than 4 lakh die because of it. In fact, in 2019, nearly half of the world's population was at risk of malaria. According to WHO, infants or children aged under 5 years are the most vulnerable group, ...

Converting endogenous genes of the malaria mosquito into simple non-autonomous gene drives for population replacement

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A. Hoermann, S. Tapanelli, P. Capriotti, G. Del Corsano, E. K. G. Masters, T. Habtewold, G. K. Christophides and N. Windbichler,  eLife,  10. 2021.
Gene drives for mosquito population replacement are promising tools for malaria control. However, there is currently no clear pathway for safely testing such tools in endemic countries. The lack of well-characterized promoters for infection-relevant tissues and regulatory hurdles ...

Why do you think a gene drive approach could help with malaria and dengue?

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Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research,  Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research,  2021.

CRISPR-mediated knock-in of transgenes into the malaria vector Anopheles funestus

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C. Quinn, A. Anthousi, C. Wondji and T. Nolan,  bioRxiv,  2021.03.31.437891. 2021.
We describe herein an optimised transformation system based on the germline delivery of CRISPR components that allows efficient cleavage of a previously validated genomic site and preferential repair of these cut sites via homology-directed repair (HDR), which allows introduction ...

Quantifying the risk of vector-borne disease transmission attributable to genetically modified vectors

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G. R. Hosack, A. Ickowicz and K. R. Hayes,  Royal Society Open Science,  8:201525. 2021.
The relative risk of disease transmission caused by the potential release of transgenic vectors, such as through sterile insect technique or gene drive systems, is assessed with comparison with wild-type vectors. The probabilistic risk framework is demonstrated with an assessment ...

The ethical scientist in a time of uncertainty

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L. Zoloth,  Cell,  184:1430-1439. 2021.
Using the example of gene drives for malaria control to explore the problem of deep uncertainty in biomedical research, I argue that profound uncertainty is an essential feature. Applying the language and presumptions of the discipline of philosophical ethics, I describe three ...

femaleless Controls Sex Determination and Dosage Compensation Pathways in Females of Anopheles Mosquitoes

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E. Krzywinska, L. Ferretti, J. Li, J.-C. Li, C.-H. Chen and J. Krzywinski,  Current Biology,  31:1084-1091.e4. 2021.
Here we show that in the African malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae, a gene, which likely arose in the Anopheles lineage and which we call femaleless (fle), controls sex determination in females by regulating splicing of dsx and fruitless (fru; another terminal gene within a ...

In Uganda, genetically modified mosquitoes bring hope and fear

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Anonymous,  africanews,  2021.
Scientists here are investigating whether populations of the malaria-carrying insects can be reduced by genetic modification. They're looking at the viability of releasing large numbers of genetically modified mosquitos into the wild to influence future generations. The study ...

The science & ethics of gene drive technology from a conservation & development perspective

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Renew Europe,  Renew Europe,  2021.
This hearing intends to examine gene-drive technology and its possible impacts, including unintended ones and reveal the complexity of an unknown technology with inherent uncertainties. Scientists from different backgrounds in the field of gene-drive research will present most ...

Genetically modified mosquitoes for better health

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D. Devis,  COSMOS,  2021.
One method of preventing these mosquito-born diseases is to use insecticides to kill the mozzies and remove them, but sometimes this only works as a short term solution, or has unintended devasting effects on the ecosystem. Another method for decreasing the number of ...

Quantifying the risk of vector-borne disease transmission attributable to genetically modified vectors

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G. R. Hosack, A. Ickowicz and K. R. Hayes,  Royal Society Open Science,  8:201525. 2021.
The relative risk of disease transmission caused by the potential release of transgenic vectors, such as through sterile insect technique or gene drive systems, is assessed with comparison with wild-type vectors. The probabilistic risk framework is demonstrated with an assessment ...

How Brussels can help or hinder the fight against malaria

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F. Okumu,  EURACTIV,  2021.
In the wake of the pandemic, the world has much for which to thank Europe. Not only did European science lead the field in developing the first approved vaccine against COVID-19, but the EU’s long history of rigorous regulatory approval has also allowed for public confidence in ...

Designing gene drives to limit spillover to non-target populations

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G. Greenbaum, M. W. Feldman, N. A. Rosenberg and J. Kim,  PLOS Genetics,  17:e1009278. 2021.
We develop mathematical models of gene-drive dynamics that incorporate migration between a target and non-target populations to investigate the possibility of effectively applying a gene drive in the target population while limiting its spillovers to the non-target population ...

Detailed genome map of malaria vector

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The Hindu,  Aspirant World,  2021.
In order to engineer advanced forms of defence against malaria transmission, including targeted CRISPR and gene drive–based strategies, scientists require intricate knowledge of the genomes of vector mosquitoes. CRISPR technology is a gene-editing tool which allows ...

Researchers Unveil Detailed Genome of Invasive Malaria Mosquito

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M. Aguilera,  UC San Diego News Center,  2021.
Mosquito-transmitted malaria remains the number one worldwide killer among vector-borne diseases, claiming more than 400,000 human lives in 2019. In order to engineer advanced forms of defense against malaria transmission, including targeted CRISPR and gene drive-based ...

Hidden genomic features of an invasive malaria vector, Anopheles stephensi, revealed by a chromosome-level genome assembly

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M. Chakraborty, A. Ramaiah, A. Adolfi, P. Halas, B. Kaduskar, L. T. Ngo, S. Jayaprasad, K. Paul, S. Whadgar, S. Srinivasan, S. Subramani, E. Bier, A. A. James and J. J. Emerson,  BMC Biology,  19:28. 2021.
The mosquito Anopheles stephensi is a vector of urban malaria in Asia that recently invaded Africa. Studying the genetic basis of vectorial capacity and engineering genetic interventions are both impeded by limitations of a vector’s genome assembly. The existing assemblies of ...

Experts oppose plan to breed mosquitoes

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T. Abet,  Daily Monitor,  2021.
Environmentalists have opposed the plan to breed and release genetically modified mosquitoes in the country to curb malaria prevalence. They say the act presents substantial human and environmental health risks. Their objection follows last week’s announcement by scientists ...

Genetically modified mosquitoes to curb malaria

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T. Abet,  Daily Monitor,  2021.
Scientists at Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) have started breeding mosquitoes with the aim of modifying their genetic materials and releasing them to the environment to curb malaria transmission. The genetically modified mosquitoes, according to the scientists, do not ...

New genetically modified mosquitoes to help fight malaria

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D. Zirimala,  Capital Radio FM,  2021.
According to Dr. Jonathan Kayondo, the principal investigator of the Target Malaria project, the genetically modified mosquitoes do not transmit malaria parasites when they bite. These are made infertile so that when they cross breed with the female anopheles mosquito, they are ...

Proceedings of an expert workshop on community agreement for gene drive research in Africa – Co-organised by KEMRI, PAMCA and Target Malaria [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]

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D. Thizy, L. Pare Toe, C. Mbogo, D. Matoke-Muhia, V. P. Alibu, S. K. Barnhill-Dilling, T. Chantler, G. Chongwe, J. Delborne, L. Kapiriri, E. Nassonko Kavuma, S. Koloi-Keaikitse, A. Kormos, K. Littler, D. Lwetoijera, R. Vargas de Moraes, N. Mumba, L. Muten,  Gates Open Research,  2021.
Target Malaria, the Kenya Medical Research Institute and the Pan African Mosquito Control Association co-organised a workshop with researchers and practitioners on this topic to question the model proposed by Target Malaria in its research so far that involved the release of ...

Application of the Relationship-Based Model to Engagement for Field Trials of Genetically Engineered Malaria Vectors

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A. Kormos, G. C. Lanzaro, E. Bier, G. Dimopoulos, J. M. Marshall, J. Pinto, A. Aguiar dos Santos, A. Bacar, H. Sousa Pontes Sacramento Rompão and A. A. James,  The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,  2020.
Although guidelines and recommendations for engagement for gene drives have recently been described, we argue here that communities and stakeholders should lead the planning, development, and implementation phases of engagement. The RBM provides a new approach to the development ...

A Gene Drive Could Wipe Out Mosquitoes. But What If We Want To Turn It Off?

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A. Winkler,  freethink,  2020.
Gene drives are powerful tools: they allow scientists to hack how animals pass down genes to their offspring. They could allow us to wipe out malaria-carrying mosquitoes, preserve endangered species, or fight off crop-eating pests. But once it's out in the wild, a gene drive ...

Mosquito population modification: the drive to malaria eradication

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A. A. James,  BugBitten BMC,  2020.
We have had considerable success in the past demonstrating that we can use modern molecular biological and insect transgenesis tools to make genes that prevent mosquitoes from passing on parasites (see 1 and 2). We have focused most recently on laboratory experiments to find ways ...

Gene drive blocks malaria transmission in mosquitoes

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labonline,  labonline,  2020.
Employing a strategy known as ‘population modification’, which involves using a CRISPR-Cas9 gene drive system to introduce genes preventing parasite transmission into mosquito chromosomes, University of California (UC) researchers have made a major advance in the use of ...

Gene Drives: A Controversial Tool to Fight Malaria

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H. Albert,  LABIOTECH.eu,  2020.
The possibility of creating gene drives was introduced into the scientific community in 2003 by Austin Burt, a professor at Imperial College London. Burt was studying ‘selfish genes’ that can copy themselves into a specific target DNA sequence. He suggested that these genes, ...

A gene-drive rescue system for the modification of malaria mosquito populations

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A. Adolfi,  Nature Research Bioengineering Community,  2020.
Mosquito populations can now be reliably modified using 1) antimalarial molecules that block parasite development and 2) a CRISPR-based gene drive system that mediates their rapid spreading across the vector population.

UC researchers pioneer more effective method of blocking malaria transmission in mosquitoes

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UCI,  UCI News,  2020.
University of California, Irvine postdoctoral researcher Adriana Adolfi, in collaboration with colleagues at UCI, UC Berkeley and UC San Diego, followed up on the group’s pioneering effort to develop CRISPR-based gene drive systems for making mosquito vectors resistant to ...

Efficient population modification gene-drive rescue system in the malaria mosquito Anopheles stephensi

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A. Adolfi, V. M. Gantz, N. Jasinskiene, H.-F. Lee, K. Hwang, G. Terradas, E. A. Bulger, A. Ramaiah, J. B. Bennett, J. J. Emerson, J. M. Marshall, E. Bier and A. A. James,  Nature Communications,  11:5553. 2020.
Here, we develop a recoded gene-drive rescue system for population modification of the malaria vector, Anopheles stephensi, that relieves the load in females caused by integration of the drive into the kynurenine hydroxylase gene by rescuing its function. Non-functional resistant ...

Is Gene Editing the Answer to Eradicating Malaria in Africa?

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Staff,  ASH Clinical News,  2020.
Researchers are looking at a new technique to eradicate malaria: Engineering mosquitoes with a “gene drive” – a gene that when inserted into mosquitoes (or other organisms) will be passed on to nearly 100% of the offspring in the next generation, rather than just half the ...

Inauguration and first meeting of WA-IVM Technical Working Groups

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AUDA-NEPAD,  AUDA-NEPAD News,  2020.
African Union Development Agency – NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) in collaboration with the West Africa Health Organization (WAHO), the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Environment in Cote d’Ivoire, organized the inaugural meeting of WA-IVM Technical Working Groups (TWGs) from 24 ...

Cellular mechanisms regulating synthetic sex ratio distortion in the Anopheles gambiae germline

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R. E. Haghighat-Khah, A. Sharma, M. R. Wunderlich, G. Morselli, L. A. Marston, C. Bamikole, A. Hall, N. Kranjc, C. Taxiarchi, I. Sharakhov and R. Galizi,  Pathogens and Global Health,  114:370-378. 2020.
Meiotic cleavage of rDNA repeats, located in the sex chromosomes of A. gambiae SD males, affects the competitiveness of mature sperm to fertilize the female oocyte.

WHO Releases a Position Statement on Genetically Modified Mosquitoes for the Control of Vector-Borne Diseases

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E. R. Fletcher,  Health Policy Watch,  2020.
WHO announced their support for the continued investigation into genetically modified mosquitoes as an alternative to existing interventions to reduce or prevent vector-borne diseases.

Ethics and vector-borne diseases

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Geneva: World Health Organization,  WHO Guidance,  2020.
The guidance was developed by an international group of experts in vector control, infectious disease ethics, maternal and child health, ecology and climate change, research and vaccine development, and public health communication. It examines a broad range of ethical ...

Do Africans need genetically modified mosquitoes?

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genetically modified, mosquito, oxitec, autocidal, SIT, perspective, malaria, gene drive synthetic, engagement,,  Mail and Guardian,  2020.
The following is an updated version of an article I wrote for the University of Michigan Risk Science Centre a while ago:

Anthony James / Mosquito Modification

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Big Picture Science,  SETI Institute,  2020.
Anthony James, vector biologist at the University of California, Irvine, describeshow we might genetically modify mosquitoes to make them unable to pass malaria on to humans.

Vector genetics, insecticide resistance and gene drives: An agent-based modeling approach to evaluate malaria transmission and elimination

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P. Selvaraj, E. A. Wenger, D. Bridenbecker, N. Windbichler, J. R. Russell, J. Gerardin, C. A. Bever and M. Nikolov,  PloS Computational Biology,  16:21. 2020.
Here, we investigate the reduced efficacy of current vector control measures in the presence of insecticide resistance and evaluate the likelihood of achieving local malaria elimination using gene drive mosquitoes released into a high transmission setting alongside other vector ...

Bednets or Biotechnology: To Rescue Current Persons or Research for the Future?

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D. E. Callies,  Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences,  14. 2020.
After an exploration of the duty to rescue and cost-effectiveness analysis, I suggest we look towards the literature on intergenerational justice for a justifiable answer to the question of how we ought to allocate our malaria resources.

Fighting malaria with genetically modified mosquitoes

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E. Nakkazi,  BMJ,  370:m2172. 2020.
Could a bold project to genetically engineer mosquitoes curb the scourge of malaria in Africa? Finding out will require careful science—and public acceptance, writes Esther Nakkazi

Exploring gene drive’s role in fight against malaria

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J. Conrow,  Genetic Literacy Project,  2020.
J. Conrow (2020) Genetic Literacy Project. An international initiative has formed to ensure that gene drive technology gets a chance to prove its mettle in the quest to control malaria.

Efficient population modification gene-drive rescue system in the malaria mosquito Anopheles stephensi

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A. Adolfi, V. M. Gantz, N. Jasinskiene, H.-F. Lee, K. Hwang, E. A. Bulger, A. Ramaiah, J. B. Bennett, G. Terradas, J. J. Emerson, J. M. Marshall, E. Bier and A. A. James,  bioRxiv,  2020.08.02.233056. 2020.
We developed the first recoded gene-drive rescue system for population modification in the malaria vector, Anopheles stephensi, that relieves the load in females caused by integration of the drive into the kynurenine hydroxylase gene by rescuing its function. Non-functional ...

Après les OGM, la nouvelle technique du forçage génétique inquiète écologistes et scientifiques

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H. Leussier,  Reporterre,  2020.
Les organismes issus du forçage génétique peuvent transmettre, sans autre intervention humaine, des gènes modifiés à tous leurs descendants. Cette technique permettrait d’éradiquer des espèces nuisibles, comme certains moustiques vecteurs de la malaria. Mais des ...

Three innovative technologies stopping malaria

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B. Muni,  The Borgen Project,  2020.
Malaria has plummeted by 40% fifteen years after 2000. A report that NCBI published attributed this to mosquito preventative measures like bed netting and insecticides. These interventions and practices, like wearing light color clothing, help at-risk populations fight malaria. ...

Detecting the population dynamics of an autosomal sex ratio distorter transgene in malaria vector mosquitoes

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P. Pollegioni, A. R. North, T. Persampieri, A. Bucci, R. L. Minuz, D. A. Groneberg, T. Nolan, P. A. Papathanos, A. Crisanti and R. Muller,  Journal of Applied Ecology,  11. 2020.
A sex-distorting autosomal transgene has been developed recently in G3 mosquitoes, a laboratory strain of the malaria vectorAnopheles gambiaes.l. Following the World Health Organization guidance framework for the testing of GM mosquitoes, we assessed the dynamics of this ...

Fighting malaria with gene-drive technology

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EarthWise,  earthwise radio,  2020.
A team led by Imperial College London has created a genetic modification that distorts the sex ratio of a population of Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes using “gene drive” technology. The modification works by using a DNA-cutting enzyme to destroy the X chromosome during the ...

Mosquitoes engineered to resist the malaria parasite

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Anonymous,  Lab+Life Scientist,  2020.
Anopheles mosquitoes that have been genetically engineered with multiple antimalaria molecules, acting at different stages of the malaria life cycle, are strongly resistant to the parasite that causes malaria and are unlikely to lose that resistance quickly.

CRISPR/Cas9 gene drive technology to control transmission of vector-borne parasitic infections

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M. Nateghi Rostami,  Parasite Immunology,  preprint:e12762. 2020.
Gene drive is the process of copying of an endonuclease-containing cassette that leads to increased frequency of inheritance of the desired traits in a targeted population. CRISPR/Cas9 technology is advancing genetic manipulation of insects in the field of gene drive ...

Position Paper on Integrated Vector Management: Strengthening AU Members’ Regulatory Capacities for Responsible Research Towards Elimination of Malaria in Africa

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African Union Development Agency - NEPAD,  AUDA-NEPAD,  2020.
Africa continues to bear a heavy brunt of the malaria which is a disease transmitted by the female Anopheles mosquito. Thousands of lives, mostly of young children, are lost every year; which undermines efforts deployed at various levels for increased life expectancy and improved ...

New study highlights success of gene drive technology with preventing mosquito-spread diseases

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A. Meckler-Pacheco,  The California Aggie,  2020.
For the past 30 years, researchers have studied the usage of gene drive technology to stop the spread of malaria. The idea is to create genetically engineered mosquitoes (GEM) that are either resistant to carrying the malaria parasite or that fail to reproduce, which would result ...

A male-biased sex-distorter gene drive for the human malaria vector Anopheles gambiae

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A. Simoni, A. M. Hammond, A. K. Beaghton, R. Galizi, C. Taxiarchi, K. Kyrou, D. Meacci, M. Gribble, G. Morselli, A. Burt, T. Nolan and A. Crisanti,  Nature Biotechnology,  2020.
We report a male-biased sex-distorter gene drive (SDGD) in the human malaria vector Anopheles gambiae.

The development of complex and controversial innovations. Genetically modified mosquitoes for malaria eradication

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V. Cisnetto and J. Barlow,  Research Policy,  49:103917. 2020.
e use a longitudinal process approach and qualitative system dynamics modelling to study the development of genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes for malaria eradication in an African country.

Opinions of key stakeholders on alternative interventions for malaria control and elimination in Tanzania

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M. F. Finda, N. Christofides, J. Lezaun, B. Tarimo, P. Chaki, A. H. Kelly, N. Kapologwe, P. Kazyoba, B. Emidi and F. O. Okumu,  Malaria Journal,  19:164. 2020.
Malaria control in Tanzania currently relies primarily on long-lasting insecticidal nets and indoor residual spraying, alongside effective case management and behaviour change communication. This study explored opinions of key stakeholders on the national progress towards malaria ...

Can we kill the dreaded mosquito? Do we even want to?

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Stacey McKenna,  Sierra,  2020.
As a major vector for disease, the mosquito has harmed more human beings than just about any other animal, and a changing climate is only boosting those numbers. As the range of disease-carrying species of mosquitoes expands, so does their ability to transmit the parasites and ...

Gene editing and the war against malaria

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E. Bier and E. Sobber,  American Scientist,  102:162. 2020.
Malaria is a devastating disease transmitted from person to person by mosquitoes. It kills more than 400,000 people per year, more than half of those deaths being children 5 years old or younger. CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a new ...

Vector genetics, insecticide resistance and gene drives: an agent-based modeling approach to evaluate malaria transmission and elimination

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P. Selvaraj, E. A. Wenger, D. Bridenbecker, N. Windbichler, J. R. Russell, J. Gerardin, C. A. Bever and M. Nikolov,  bioRxiv,  2020.01.27.920421. 2020.
Vector control has been a key component in the fight against malaria for decades, and chemical insecticides are critical to the success of vector control programs worldwide. However, increasing resistance to insecticides threatens to undermine these efforts. Understanding the ...

Engineering Bugs, Resurrecting Species: The Wild World of Synthetic Biology for Conservation

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P. Rejcek,  Singularity Hub,  2020.
Imagine a world where a mosquito bite is just an itchy annoyance. No malaria. No dengue fever. Last month, scientists announced they had taken one more step toward that vision. A paper in the journal PLOS Pathogens described how they synthetically engineered mosquitoes to stop ...

Transcontinental dispersal of Anopheles gambiae occurred from West African origin via serial founder events

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H. Schmidt, Y. Lee, T. C. Collier, M. J. Hanemaaijer, O. D. Kirstein, A. Ouledi, M. Muleba, D. E. Norris, M. Slatkin, A. J. Cornel and G. C. Lanzaro,  Communications Biology,  2. 2019.
Here we present population genomic analyses of 111 specimens sampled from west to east Africa, including the first whole genome sequences from oceanic islands, the Comoros.

The bold plan to end malaria with a gene drive

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VOX,  2019.

A Controversial Swarm Of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes In A Lab In Italy

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NPR,  2019.
An international team of scientists is conducting a controversial experiment in Italy. The experiment is designed to test genetically modified mosquitoes that researchers hope could provide a powerful new weapon to fight malaria, which remains one of the world's greatest ...

Gene Drive Mosquitoes: Ethics, Environment and Efficacy

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L. Wilburn,  ScienceInnovationUnion,  2019.
The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation has recently donated over $75 million to fund gene drive mosquito research by Target Malaria , a consortium that aims to develop technology for malaria control. The first planned release of gene drive mosquitoes is set to happen over the next ...

Malaria eradication within a generation: ambitious, achievable, and necessary

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R. G. A. Feachem, I. Chen, O. Akbari, A. Bertozzi-Villa, S. Bhatt, F. Binka, M. F. Boni, C. Buckee, J. Dieleman, A. Dondorp, A. Eapen, N. Sekhri Feachem, S. Filler, P. Gething, R. Gosling, A. Haakenstad, K. Harvard, A. Hatefi, D. Jamison, K. E. Jones, C.,  Lancet,  394:1056-1112. 2019.
50 years after a noble but flawed attempt to eradicate malaria in the mid-20th century, the global malaria community is once again seriously considering eradication. Momentum towards eradication has been building for decades, and more than half of the world’s countries are now ...

Gene drives as a response to infection and resistance

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Hayirli, TCM, P.F.,  Infection and Drug Resistance,  12:229-234. 2019.
Vector-borne infectious diseases continue to be a major threat to public health. Although some prevention and treatment modalities exist for these diseases, resistance to such modalities, exacerbated by global climate change, remains a fundamental challenge. Developments in ...

The Release of Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes in Burkina Faso: Bioeconomy of Science, Public Engagement and Trust in Medicine

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Beisel, UG, J. K.,  African Studies Review,  62:164-173. 2019.
Malaria, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, continues to be responsible for a significant number of disease episodes and childhood deaths on the African continent. A variety of mosquito control strategies are currently inplace, but since case numbers are rising again, and drug ...

Why I study the most dangerous animal on earth — mosquitoes | Fredros Okumu

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TED,  TED,  2018.

Sterile insect technique field trials to eliminate malaria under way

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Anonymous,  SA Department of Science and Innovation,  2018.
The first South African research trial for the biological control of mosquitoes using the sterile insect technique started in Jozini in KwaZulu-Natal earlier this month, with funding from the Department of Science and Technology. South Africa is making significant progress in ...

Global report on insecticide resistance in malaria vectors: 2010-2016.

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WHO,  World Health Organization,  2018.
Insecticide-based vector control is a cornerstone in the fight against malaria. Selection of vector-control interventions should take into account the resistance status of local mosquito vectors along with other factors associated with intervention deployment and use such as ...

Gene Drives – Wundermittel? Biowaffe?

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Swiss Academy of Sciences SCNAT,  Swiss Academy of Sciences,  2018.

Economic issues to consider for gene drives

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P. D. Mitchell, Z. Brown and N. McRoberts,  Journal of Responsible Innovation,  5:S180-S202. 2018.
We examine four economic issues regarding gene drive applications made possible by gene editing technologies. The potentially substantial benefits, coupled with the technical, social, and economic uncertainties surrounding gene drives, suggest that a responsible course of action ...

Gene drive to reduce malaria transmission in sub-Saharan Africa

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A. Burt, M. Coulibaly, A. Crisanti, A. Diabate and J. K. Kayondo,  Journal of Responsible Innovation,  5:S66-S80. 2018.
Gene drive is a natural process by which some genes are inherited at a greater-than-Mendelian rate and can spread through a population even if they cause harm to the organisms carrying them. Many different synthetic gene drive systems have been proposed to suppress the number of ...

Engineered Reciprocal Chromosome Translocations Drive High Threshold, Reversible Population Replacement in Drosophila

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Buchman, ABI, Tobin; Marshall, John M.; Akbari, Omar S.; Hay, Bruce A.,  ACS Synthetic Biology,  7:1359-1370. 2018.
Replacement of wild insect populations with transgene-bearing individuals unable to transmit disease or survive under specific environmental conditions using gene drive provides a self-perpetuating method of disease prevention. Mechanisms that require the gene drive element and ...

The impact of releasing sterile mosquitoes on malaria transmission

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Hongyan, YC, Yang; Xin'an, Zhang; Jia, Li,  Discrete & Continuous Dynamical Systems - B,  23:3837-3853. 2018.
The sterile mosquitoes technique in which sterile mosquitoes are released to reduce or eradicate the wild mosquito population has been used in preventing the malaria transmission. To study the impact of releasing sterile mosquitoes on the malaria transmission, we first formulate ...

Identifying and detecting potentially adverse ecological outcomes associated with the release of gene-drive modified organisms

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Hayes, KRH, G. R.; Dana, G. V.; Foster, S. D.; Ford, J. H.; Thresher, R.; Ickowicz, A.; Peel, D.; Tizard, M.; De Barro, P.; Strive, T.; Dambacher, J. M.,  Journal of Responsible Innovation,  5:S139-S158. 2018.
Synthetic gene drives could provide new solutions to a range of old problems such as controlling vector-borne diseases, agricultural pests and invasive species. In this paper, we outline methods to identify hazards and detect potentially adverse ecological outcomes at the ...

Economic issues to consider for gene drives

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Mitchell, PDB, Z.; McRoberts, N.,  Journal of Responsible Innovation,  5:S180-S202. 2018.
We examine four economic issues regarding gene drive applications made possible by gene editing technologies. First, whether gene drives are self-sustaining or self-limiting will largely determine which types of organizations have incentives to develop and deploy gene drives and ...

Current vector control challenges in the fight against malaria

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G. Benelli and J. C. Beier,  Acta Tropica,  174:91-96. 2017.
The majority of National Malaria Control Programs in Africa still rely on indoor residual spraying (IRS) and long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs). These methods reduce malaria incidence but generally have little impact on malaria prevalence. In addition to outdoor transmission, ...

ASSEMBLY OF THE UNION Twenty-Ninth Ordinary Session: DECISIONS, DECLARATIONS AND RESOLUTION

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African Union,  African Union,  2017.
Assembly/AU/Dec.649(XXIX): COMMITS to sustain the gains made in the fight against Malaria and monitor antimalarial drug resistance and insecticide resistance; COMMITS ALSO to invest in the development and regulation of the gene-drive technology as well as other new innovations ...

Is it time for synthetic biodiversity conservation?

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Piaggio, AJS, G.; Seddon, P. J.; Alphey, L.; Bennett, E. L.; Carlson, R. H.; Friedman, R. M.; Kanavy, D.; Phelan, R.; Redford, K. H.; Rosales, M.; Slobodian, L.; Wheeler, K.,  Trends in Ecology & Evolution,  32:97-107. 2017.
Evidence indicates that, despite some critical successes, current conservation approaches are not slowing the overall rate of biodiversity loss. The field of synthetic biology, which is capable of altering natural genomes with extremely precise editing, might offer the potential ...

Towards the genetic control of invasive species

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Harvey-Samuel, TA, T.; Alphey, L.,  Biological Invasions,  19:1683-1703. 2017.
Invasive species remain one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity. Their control would be enhanced through the development of more effective and sustainable pest management strategies. Recently, a novel form of genetic pest management (GPM) has been developed in which ...

Using Gene Drive to Control Malaria

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The Scientist,  The Scientist,  2016.
This article provides illustrations for how gene drive works, how gene drives spread, and how gene drive could be used to control malaria using population-wide gene knockout, skewed sex ratio, and population-wide gene knock-in techniques. Visit the article to view all ...

Genetic Engineering and Diseases – Gene Drive & Malaria

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Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell,  2016.

The effect of malaria control on Plasmodium falciparum in Africa between 2000 and 2015

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S. Bhatt, D. J. Weiss, E. Cameron, D. Bisanzio, B. Mappin, U. Dalrymple, K. E. Battle, C. L. Moyes, A. Henry, P. A. Eckhoff, E. A. Wenger, O. Briët, M. A. Penny, T. A. Smith, A. Bennett, J. Yukich, T. P. Eisele, J. T. Griffin, C. A. Fergus, M. Lynch, F. L,  Nature,  526:207-211. 2015.
Since the year 2000, a concerted campaign against malaria has led to unprecedented levels of intervention coverage across sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding the effect of this control effort is vital to inform future control planning. H

GM mosquitoes a ‘quantum leap’ towards tackling malaria

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A. Vaughan,  Guardian,  2014.
New technique injects mosquitoes with a gene that results in mostly male offspring, eventually leading to a population crash

The Impact of Pyrethroid Resistance on the Efficacy of Insecticide-Treated Bed Nets against African Anopheline Mosquitoes: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

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C. Strode, S. Donegan, P. Garner, A. A. Enayati and J. Hemingway,  PLOS Medicine,  11:e1001619. 2014.
This meta-analysis found that ITNs are more effective than UTNs regardless of resistance. There appears to be a relationship between resistance and the RD for mosquito mortality in laboratory and field studies. However, the substantive heterogeneity in the studies' results and ...

Modelling the spatial spread of a homing endonuclease gene in a mosquito population

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North, AB, A.; Godfray, H. C. J.,  Journal of Applied Ecology,  50:1216-1225. 2013.
Homing endonuclease genes (HEGs) exist naturally in many single-celled organisms and can show extremely strong genetic drive allowing them to spread through populations into which they are introduced. They are being investigated as tools to manipulate the populations of important ...

Ethical issues in field trials of genetically modified disease-resistant mosquitoes

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D. B. Resnik,  Developing World Bioethics,  14:37-46. 2012.
Mosquito-borne diseases take a tremendous toll on human populations, especially in developing nations. In the last decade, scientists have developed mosquitoes that have been genetically modified to prevent transmission of mosquito-borne diseases, and field trials have been ...

Pyrethroid resistance in African anopheline mosquitoes: what are the implications for malaria control?

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H. Ranson, R. N’Guessan, J. Lines, N. Moiroux, Z. Nkuni and V. Corbel,  Trends in Parasitology,  27:91-98. 2011.
The use of pyrethroid insecticides in malaria vector control has increased dramatically in the past decade through the scale up of insecticide treated net distribution programmes and indoor residual spraying campaigns. Inevitably, the major malaria vectors have developed ...

Field site selection: getting it right first time around

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C. A. Malcolm, B. El Sayed, A. Babiker, R. Girod, D. Fontenille, B. G. J. Knols, A. H. Nugud and M. Q. Benedict,  Malaria Journal,  8. 2009.
The selection of suitable field sites for integrated control of Anopheles mosquitoes using the sterile insect technique (SIT) requires consideration of the full gamut of factors facing most proposed control strategies, but four criteria identify an ideal site: 1) a single malaria ...

Spatial and temporal distribution of the malaria mosquito Anopheles arabiensis in northern Sudan: influence of environmental factors and implications for vector control

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T. B. Ageep, J. Cox, M. M. Hassan, B. G. J. Knols, M. Q. Benedict, C. A. Malcolm, A. Babiker and B. B. El Sayed,  Malaria Journal,  8:14. 2009.
Background: Malaria is an important public health problem in northern Sudan, but little is known about the dynamics of its transmission. Given the characteristic low densities of Anopheles arabiensis and the difficult terrain in this area, future vector control strategies are ...

Towards a sterile insect technique field release of Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes in Sudan: Irradiation, transportation, and field cage experimentation

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M. E. H. Helinski, M. M. Hassan, W. M. El-Motasim, C. A. Malcolm, B. G. J. Knols and B. El-Sayed,  Malaria Journal,  7:10. 2008.
Background: The work described in this article forms part of a study to suppress a population of the malaria vector Anopheles arabiensis in Northern State, Sudan, with the Sterile Insect Technique. No data have previously been collected on the irradiation and transportation of ...

First Anopheles arabiensis germline transformation: Toward the development of a transgenic genetic sexing strain

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H. C. Bossin, J. Thailayil, F. Catteruccia, J. P. Benton, A. Crisanti, M. Q. Benedict, B. G. Knols and A. S. Robinson,  American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,  75:66-66. 2006.
The ability to genetically engineer mosquitoes is likely to have major implications for the development and implementation of genetic control systems against mosquito disease vectors such as the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). In particular, genetically transformed mosquito ...

A cage replacement experiment involving introduction of genes for refractoriness to Plasmodium-yoelii-nigeriensis into a population of Anopheles gambiae (Diptera, Culicidae)

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P. M. Graves and C. F. Curtis,  Journal of Medical Entomology,  19:127-133. 1982.
A caged population of Anopheles gambiae was allowed to breed continuously and samples of the progeny were tested for susceptibility to Plasmodium yoelii nigeriensis. Males of a strain partially refractory to this parasite were released into the population for an 18-wk period. The ...

Population replacement in Culex fatigens by means of cytoplasmic incompatibility. Laboratory experiments with non-overlapping generations

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C. F. Curtis and T. Adak,  Bulletin of the World Health Organization,  51:249-255. 1974.
Bidirectional cytoplasmic incompatibility in the Culex pipiens complex appears to provide a mechanism for the replacement of a wild population by a strain refractory to filaria or a strain made partly sterile by a translocation. As a preliminary test of the feasibility of the ...