A friendly mosquito could be the next big step in malaria eradication

Oxitec, a company based in the UK, has developed what they call "Friendly mousquitoes". These are biologically modified male mosquitoes that mate with the female to give birth to baby mosquitoes that die before reaching adulthood. This death before adulthood would only be for female offspring.

Since it is the bite of female mosquitoes that spread infections such as malaria, Zika and dengue fever, this would stop the transmission of the infection. The male offspring living would live the artificial gene that would allow future offspring to die in the same way.

The introduction of these mosquitoes would save the lives of 830,000 people who die of malaria each year. More than 600 million people suffer from this disease, with sub-Saharan Africa being one of the most affected. The infection is transmitted by the bite of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. Control of the mosquito population is known as vector control or reduction of carriers of infection.

The scope of this project in the elimination and eradication of mosquito-borne diseases is considered sufficient for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to make a $ 4 million donation announced on June 22, 2018. The Director General Oxitec, Gray Frandsen, appreciated the donation. their company could now "enter the fight against malaria". The $ 4 million for malaria control adds to their previous donation of $ 4.9 million in 2010. The Gates are committed to "eradicating malaria in a generation."

According to Philip Welkhoff, director of the Gates malaria program, vector control has played a crucial role in reducing the spread of malaria over the last 15 years. Vector control efforts have reached a plateau at the present time without any further progress. He said that this new innovation and others of this type "are essential to achieving the goal of a malaria-free world". He said that Oxitec's work was a "self-sustaining" genetically modified technique that could be used in Africa.

According to Frandsen, these strains of mosquitoes are self-calcifying and they can be used to stop the spread of disease spreading of mosquito species. Mosquito-borne malaria is the next target he's said. The field trials of these friendly mosquitoes are scheduled to begin in 2020. Earlier, a small pilot test was planned for the Florida Keys, but local residents were opposed to this idea. The environmental charity "Friends of the Earth" had previously opposed the trial by citing ethical concerns about the destruction of mosquito offspring before & # 39; She does not reach adulthood.