Could Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Have A Role In Controlling Malaria?

Main Category: Tropical Diseases
Article Date: 11 Feb 2009 - 0:00 PDT

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Given that malaria causes at least 1 million deaths every year, scientists are working on new approaches to malaria control, including developing better and cheaper anti-malarial drugs, renewed efforts to find a malaria vaccine, and the development of genetically modified mosquitoes (GMMs). Such transgenic mosquitoes are designed either to reduce population sizes or to replace existing populations with vectors unable to transmit the disease.

In this week's PLoS Medicine, Charles Taylor and John Marshall (University of California, Los Anegles) describe some of the efforts currently underway to create GMMs and assess some of the obstacles they face. "Malaria control with transgenic mosquitoes will be challenging," say the authors. "However, recent advances suggest that it may be a possibility in the foreseeable future."

Citation:
Marshall JM, Taylor CE (2009)
"Malaria control with transgenic mosquitoes."
PLoS Med 6(2): e1000020. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000020
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