Malaria Mosquitoes Eliminated in Lab by Creating All-Male Populations
Credit: Alekos Simoni/Imperial College London
A modification that creates more male offspring was able to eliminate populations of malaria mosquitoes in lab experiments.
A team led by Imperial College London spread a genetic modification that distorts the sex ratio through a population of caged Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes using 'gene drive' technology.
The team's modification causes mosquitoes to produce more male offspring, eventually leading to no females being born and a total collapse in the population. This represents the first successful sex-distorter gene drive ever created, a goal for scientists as these modifications are expected to be ...