Nigeria Abroad
Researchers at Imperial College London have successfully altered a mosquito’s gut genes to make the troublesome insects spread antimalarial genes to the next generation of their species.
This innovation may result in curbing malaria once and for all, a development highly needed in parts of the developing world where the parasite has become increasingly resistant to drugs.
“To finally eradicate malaria, we need to explore many new approaches, and this could be one of them. Reducing the ability of mosquitoes to pass on the parasite responsible for the disease could have a significant impact,” Professor George Christophides of the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College, said.
Further testing is however required in the experiment.
“We would of course need to rigorously test the safety and effectiveness of the technique before releasing any genetically modified mosquitoes into an area in the wild.”
This new advancement consists of a gene modification that essentially “hijacks” a functional gene in the mosquito to produce the antimalarial molecules. The scientists now plan to use a protein called Cas9 to further enhance it.
“When we think they are effective and safe, and we thus want them to start behaving like a real gene drive; we just have to combine them with one that is already driving on its own using the Cas9 component,” Dr. Nikolai Windbichler, of the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial, said.
“Once we do this, they turn into gene drives themselves without the need for any further changes. Our approach thus brings gene drives one step closer to being tested in the field as a malaria elimination strategy.”
This isn’t the first time scientists have tried to engineer safer mosquitoes. Two 2018 studies investigated non-biting mosquito populations to find ways to curb blood cravings in biting mosquitoes.
The research was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, leader in global effort to eradicate malaria.
This story first appeared in Nigeria Abroad
