Human Interest
Lab-created mosquitoes could help fight malaria─── 10:11 Wed, 11 Jun 2014
London - Scientists have created mosquitoes that produce 95% male offspring, with the aim of helping to control malaria. Flooding cages of normal mosquitoes with the new strain caused a shortage of females and a population crash.
The system works by shredding the X chromosome during sperm production, leaving very few X-carrying sperm to produce female embryos.
The journal Nature Communications reports that in the wild it could slash numbers of malaria-spreading mosquitoes. Although probably several years away from field trials, other researchers say this marks an important step forward in the effort to produce a genetic control strategy.
Malaria is transmitted exclusively by mosquitoes. Despite reductions brought about by measures such as nets or spraying homes with insecticides, it continues to kill hundreds of thousands of people annually, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.
