Disease Resistance Successfully Spread from Modified to Wild Mosquitoes

Disease Resistance Successfully Spread from Modified to Wild Mosquitoes

NIAID-Funded Group Assesses Mating of Genetically Modified Species September 28, 2017 Using genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes to reduce or prevent the spread of infectious diseases is a new but rapidly expanding field of investigation.
Among the challenges researchers face is ensuring that GM mosquitoes can compete and mate with their wild counterparts so the desired modification is preserved and spread in the wild population.
Investigators at Johns Hopkins University have engineered GM mosquitoes to have an altered microbiota that suppresses human malaria-causing parasites.
These GM mosquitos preferred to mate with wild mosquitoes and passed along the desired protection to many generations of offspring.
The research was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Related networks