Researchers Say Gene-Editing Could Wipe Out Mosquitoes, Malaria

By Renee Fonner Sep 26, 2018 | 7:27 AM

(London) — British researchers say they’ve developed a gene-editing tool that possibly could eradicate mosquitoes and the diseases they carry, including malaria. Scientists at Imperial College London used the technique to wipe out all the mosquitoes in a test population. The edited gene made it impossible for female mosquitoes to reproduce while male mosquitoes developed normally and spread the mutated gene. None of the mosquitoes developed a resistance to the mutation. A report on the research is published in this week’s edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology.

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Gus Koernig/mwl