Engineered mosquitoes don ’ t spread malaria
If they can survive and breed in the wild , global malaria infections could fall
Scientists in the UK have created geneticallymodified mos�uitoes that are unable to infect humans with malaria in lab settings , a feat that could lower the number of infections and deaths from one of the most devastating diseases in the world .
Researchers from Imperial College London have genetically modified the insects in a way that hampers the growth of malaria parasites in their bodies , making them unable to reach the mosquitoes ’ salivary glands where they pass it on to humans when they bite .
Malaria is a serious and potentially fatal vectorborne disease that sickens millions and kills hundreds of thousands of people every year . It can be caught when mos�uitoes infected with the parasites responsible for the disease bite people , transmitting the pathogen .
�Since 20�� , the progress in tackling malaria has stalled . Mosquitoes and the parasites they carry are becoming resistant to available interventions such as insecticides and treatments , and funding has plateaued . We need to develop innovative new tools , � said co-first author of the study Dr Tibebu Habtewold , from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial , in a press release .
�nly about �0 percent of mos�uitoes live long enough that the parasite can develop to the point it can infect people , but the researchers have found a way to further decrease even those slim odds that mosquitoes can transmit the disease . The genetic modification ’ s other positive effect is that it shortens mos�uitoes ’ lifespans , thus reducing the chances of infecting people .
��or many years , we have been trying to no avail to make mosquitoes that cannot be infected by the parasite or ones that can clear all the parasites with their immune system . Delaying parasite ’ s development inside the mosquito is a conceptual shift that has opened many more opportunities to block malaria transmission from mosquitoes to humans ,” said cofirst author of the study Astrid Hoermann , from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial , in the press release .
The next step in the research will be to test how to make the engineered mosquitoes spread their genetic make-up among wild species , thus proving this approach can work outside the lab . Since these mos�uitoes have a shorter lifespan than wild ones , natural selection is likely to eliminate them more quickly once they ’ re introduced into a natural environment . So researchers are also working on further genetic modifications to make them fitter to survive .
The team of scientists has also set up a facility in Tanzania to collect parasites from local school children and test whether their approach will be effective against pathogens that infect communities in some of the most affected areas of the planet .
�We are now aiming to test whether this modification can block malaria transmission not �ust using parasites we have reared in the lab but also from parasites that have infected humans . If this proves to be true , then we will be ready to take this to field trials within the next two to three years , � said co-lead author Dr Nikolai Windbichler , from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial , in the press release .
Only about 10 percent of mosquitoes live long enough that the parasite can develop to the point it can infect people .
GlobalHealthAsiaPacific . com SEPTEMBER 2022
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