![]() ![]() ![]() UC San Diego researchers have developed a new technology to suppress Anopheles gambiae, the mosquitoes that primarily spread malaria in Africa and contribute to economic poverty in affected regions. gambiae population since they bite and spread the disease. The new system targets and kills females of the A. Researchers at the University of California San Diego led by Professor Omar Akbari’s laboratory have engineered a new way to genetically suppress populations of Anopheles gambiae, the mosquitoes that primarily spread malaria in Africa and contribute to economic poverty in affected regions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced that five cases of mosquito-borne malaria were detected in the United States (four in Florida and one in Texas, the first reported spread in the country in two decades.įortunately, scientists are developing safe technologies to stop the transmission of malaria by genetically editing mosquitoes that spread the parasite that causes the disease. Each year malaria infections result in hundreds of thousands of deaths, with the majority of fatalities occurring in children under five. Malaria remains one of the world’s deadliest diseases. ![]() The researchers are optimistic that this approach, which is safe, controllable, and scalable, can be adapted to suppress other disease-spreading species.Īs envisioned, this first-of-its-kind African mosquito suppression system would reduce child mortality and aid economic development. The system disrupts a gene that controls the mosquitoes’ sexual development, thereby halting the spread of the disease. Scientists at the University of California San Diego have developed a mosquito suppression system, Ifegenia, which uses CRISPR technology to eliminate female Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes, the primary transmitters of malaria in Africa. ![]()
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