What to know

New Technology Creates Malaria Free Mosquitoes

New genetic modification technology is able to combat malaria through engineered mosquitoes.

Scientists have created genetically engineered mosquitoes, free from the disease carrying gene, whom in term will birth malaria-free offspring.

According to the study, the modified mosquitoes are incapable of transmitting the parasite to humans, and can pass its malaria defense to 99.5 percent of their newborns.

How this works, is scientists gave mosquitoes extra genes of those responsible for antibodies that block the growth of malaria parasites, and thus prevents the development of the disease in both mosquitoes and humans.

Malaria is an infectious parasitic disease which is transmitted by female mosquitoes while they feed on human blood. Symptoms, which usually develop 10 to 15 days after being bitten, include fever, fatigue, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases it causes yellow skin and seizures, with the possibility of victims going into coma, or even death.

The disease is very common in tropical and subtropical regions, a broad area around the equator, which includes sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In 2015 alone, more than 124 million cases of malaria were recorded around the world, keeping in mind that several cases go unreported due to lack of facilities in deep desert villages. Same year, malaria was accountable for half a million deaths, 90% of which happened in Africa.

This new method can be very effective in beating the sickness and saving millions of lives, but the technique is still in its testing stages, with some scientists expressing fear over the survival of mosquito species with this method.

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