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Gene Drive Turns Mosquitoes Into Malaria Fighters (sciencemag.org)
sciencehabit writes: The war against malaria has a new ally: a controversial technology for spreading genes throughout a population of animals. Researchers report today that they have harnessed a so-called gene drive to efficiently endow mosquitoes with genes that should make them immune to the malaria parasite—and unable to spread it. On its own, gene drive won't get rid of malaria, but if successfully applied in the wild the method could help wipe out the disease, at least in some corners of the world. The approach "can bring us to zero [cases]," says Nora Besansky, a geneticist at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, who specializes in malaria-carrying mosquitoes. "The mosquitoes do their own work [and] reach places we can't afford to go or get to."
http://news.sciencemag.org/health/2015/11/gene-drive-turns-insects-malaria-fighters
It's next to the title?
is to get rid of the mosquitoes directly by using selfish gene elements like segregation distorters. But imagine the "what could possibly go wrong" comments if you tried to even suggest this.
People tried to eradicate mosquitoes decades ago. Fish population suffered. We never know how things we hate are connected to the things we need. That's why it pays to consider long-term consequences before doing anything drastic.