Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / New
Stats: 3,160,462 members, 7,843,406 topics. Date: Wednesday, 29 May 2024 at 02:57 AM

Can Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Wipe Out Malaria? - Health - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Health / Can Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Wipe Out Malaria? (1192 Views)

"Yoruba Are Genetically Immune To Lassa Fever Virus" - Prof. Christian / World's First Genetically-modified Babies Born In The U.S / What Drug Can A Pregnant Woman Feeling Malaria Take ?? (2) (3) (4)

(1) (Reply)

Can Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Wipe Out Malaria? by Nebeuwa(m): 5:40pm On Aug 06, 2012
Can genetically modified mosquitoes wipe out malaria?

I ask this question after reading about an article in which the Brazilian government is releasing mosquitoes to combat Dengue Fever.

Genetically modified mosquitoes fight dengue fever

Brazilian health authorities have taken the lead in the fight against dengue fever not with vaccines but rather with mosquitoes. At the start of this week they expanded their program and opened a large-scale mosquito farm in the northeast state of Bahia.

Now, these are not the garden-variety mosquitoes, they are an army of genetically modified male mosquitoes being used to combat, rather than spread, disease. In the laboratory, male mosquitoes are genetically modified to carry a lethal gene against the dengue virus. They are then released into the wild to mate with female mosquitoes (who are actually the ones who bite humans – since they need the blood for their eggs) and once the lethal gene is passed on to the offspring they die in the larvae stage and never make it to adulthood.

The target is dengue fever, for which there currently is no vaccine, and prevention largely has failed.

http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/12/genetically-modified-mosquitoes-fight-dengue-fever/
Re: Can Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Wipe Out Malaria? by Seun(m): 6:44pm On Aug 06, 2012
male mosquitoes are genetically modified to carry a lethal gene against the dengue virus.
The lethal gene has nothing to do with Dengue Fever specifically. It will help against any disease carried by mosquitos.

(1) (Reply)

BRT Fell Into The Lagos Lagoon From 3rd Mainland Bridge / Ebola Killer Virus In Nigeria - Survival Tips -by Attorney Patryk Utulu (usa) / Woman Saves Three Relatives From Ebola

(Go Up)

Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health
religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket

Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 10
Disclaimer: Every Nairaland member is solely responsible for anything that he/she posts or uploads on Nairaland.