Malaria-Proof Mosquito Successfully Engineered By Scientists

BBC News :

Scientists in the US have succeeded in genetically engineering a malaria-resistant mosquito.

Read the whole story: BBC News

Comments

[Neutralino]

11:29 AM on 07/20/2010

This sounds like a fabulous use of genetic engineering. Malaria kills millions of children every year. This is a much better idea than spraying breeding areas with pesticides forever.

[Takebackourmoney]

06:14 PM on 07/19/2010

Hope you can contain it. I heard that is how drugs started and look where it ended/not.

[hobo62]

04:10 PM on 07/19/2010

I hate the blood sucking buggers. No, No, not the mosquitoes, the politicians. The mosquitoes I just don't like.

[weirwolf]

10:44 AM on 07/19/2010

Can't we find a good way to get rid of them. They bite the hell out of me :(

[Brutus76]

09:26 AM on 07/19/2010

Hmmmm, this all of a sudden blurs the lines of GMOs and GEOs.

[suzc]

09:24 AM on 07/19/2010

Why?

[siafu]

01:08 PM on 07/19/2010

Probably because malaria infects 300-500 million people a year, and kills 1-3 million of those, most of whom are people living in poverty in the equatorial belt (principally sub-Saharan Africa) who cannot afford anti-malarial drugs.

[suzc]

01:33 PM on 07/19/2010

But why not work on eradicating the mosquito, which no doubt carries more than that? Why make a "good" mosquito or a "better" one? Instead of a sterile one, for instance? Makes no sense to me.

[xiaodashan]

09:04 AM on 07/19/2010

I read a similar experiment 5 years ago,they certainly didn t release whatever they created then(it had bright red eyes) because they decided the impact genetically modified mosquitos would have in habitats was too unpredictable.They didn t chance it then.hopefully this is next step and they will introduce it successfully.

[dumosumo]

01:31 AM on 07/19/2010

Now please concoct a human-averse mosquito for those of us who don't live in miasmic swamps.

[KriTiKiT]

12:52 AM on 07/19/2010

I would have thought they would have built a better frog...

[JessWonderin]

11:23 PM on 07/18/2010

Great news . . . now to find the cure for Republicanism . . . .

[Kevin Atlanta]

10:50 PM on 07/18/2010

What a great piece of news from the world of science. Between irradiated male mosquitos and malaria proof female mosquitos the battle to end the scourge of malaria may make progress.

[G52]

04:55 AM on 07/19/2010

This is one scourge I will be happy to see eradicated!

Might even get back in the brush!

[jabailo]

10:28 PM on 07/18/2010

So the mosquitoes are malaria proof...doesn't that make them better carriers?

[daisymp]

11:12 PM on 07/18/2010

The malarial parasite has to undergo a crucial development phase inside the mosquito before it can be transferred to a human. This process is effectively stopped within the genetically engineered mosquito. So the parasite load in the engineered mosquito is significantly lower and the mosquito itself is a poor carrier.

[bwillrogers]

11:35 PM on 07/18/2010

Don't mess with Mother Nature. Something worse not expected will happen. Always does.

[Muno]

09:21 PM on 07/18/2010

Malaria is a terrible disease, easy to catch and deadly. However, this seems like a dangerous thing to do since there is no way of telling how these mosquitoes will adapt to change in different habitats.

[CateManhattan]

12:57 AM on 07/19/2010

I am very cautious about large scale new biochanges, but in the case of malarial mosquitoes, all that is being done is reducing their host potential. Would you caution against vaccinating raccoons against rabies? Different process, same thing.

[suzc]

01:35 PM on 07/19/2010

Interesting.
I'd prefer a sterile mosquito. Take care of problem for good.

[Sheldon101]

05:54 PM on 07/19/2010

I live in Ontario. It was once the world's capital for rabies.

Recently there was an animal taking pet dogs in the Toronto area. It may have been a fox. Public Health officials weren't afraid that the fox might have rabies.

On the other hand, Central Park in New York is now a hot spot for rabies.

What happened? Widespread vaccination of wild animals in Ontario by dropping vaccinated baits from the air and leaving them on the ground.

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

08:58 PM on 07/18/2010

Off topic: A natural mosquito repellent I discovered.... grow some mint in your yard, I grow spearmint. When going outside, grab a stem, crush it in your hands and rub it all over yourself. All exposed skin and clothes and through hair. Works AMAZINGLY....for about 2-3 hours. I keep the crushed stem in my pocket when outside. All natural.... and you'll smell great too.

[RachelMc]

10:25 PM on 07/18/2010

heard vodka and water works. or something like that.

[Kevin Atlanta]

10:52 PM on 07/18/2010

Drink more beer. The B complex vitamins are excreted through your skin and the mosquitos and gnats won't bite through the B vitamins... Redneck lore that works.

[G52]

05:09 AM on 07/19/2010

Beer causes your body to burn up more vitamin B So make sure you take supplements while testing the theory!

I am more partial to electronic repellents!

Insects are attracted to the CO2 from your breath [garlic?] Also mosquitoes are attracted to our infrared heat! I find the biting fly more of an annoyance!

At least with a few beers you wont care if you get bit anyway! LOL!

[CateManhattan]

08:55 PM on 07/19/2010

Porch ceiling fans, vitamin B tabs, and beer . . . . and DEET for the zebra striped versions -- they are truly vicious vampires.

[olddognewtrick]

06:54 PM on 07/18/2010

Yikes! The downside is they each two pounds!