Researchers have figured out a way to genetically modify mosquitos so they will produce sperm that can only create males; this could help eradicate malaria.
Scientists created a new genetic method that distorts the sex ratio of the Anopheles gambiae mosquito, an Imperial College London news release reported.
These mosquitos are the main transmitters of the malaria parasite, but only the females bite.
In the laboratory the researchers created a "fully fertile mosquito strain that produced 95 per cent male offspring," the news release reported.
When introduced to a cage of wild-type mosquito populations this genetically-modified species eliminated the entire population within six generations due to the lack of females.
This is the first time in history researchers successfully influenced the sex ration of mosquitos.
Malaria rates have dropped by 42 percent since the beginning of the millennium, but the disease is still extremely deadly. Increased "prevention and control" measures such as insecticide use have helped drive down these numbers, the news release reported.
"Malaria is debilitating and often fatal and we need to find new ways of tackling it. We think our innovative approach is a huge step forward. For the very first time, we have been able to inhibit the production of female offspring in the laboratory and this provides a new means to eliminate the disease," lead researcher Professor Andrea Crisanti from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London, said in the news release.
The team hopes the technique will dramatically cut down on malaria deaths.
"What is most promising about our results is that they are self-sustaining. Once modified mosquitoes are introduced, males will start to produce mainly sons, and their sons will do the same, so essentially the mosquitoes carry out the work for us," Doctor Nikolai Windbichler, also a lead researcher from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London, said in the news release.
