Another strategy I read about is to genetically modify anopheles so its immune system kills off the protistan that causes malaria. A virus vector is proposed to be used.
LC On Friday, May 31, 2019 at 8:25:47 AM UTC-5, John Clark wrote: > > There is an interesting article in today's issue of the Journal Science > about a type of fungus called Metarhizium pingshaense. This fungus is very > specialized, it makes itsliving by infecting just one species of > mosquito, the Anopheline, which also happens to be the single most > important carrier of Malaria. Over millions of years the mosquito has > developed a resistance to the fungus so now it's just an inconvenience and > is rarely fatal to the insect. So scientists used genetic engineering to > put the gene that the that Funnel-Wed Spider uses to make its venom into > the fungus, this vastly increases the fungus's fire power so it can now > kill the bug even at very low concentrations. In a 6,500 square foot jungle > enclosure they found that the fungus now killed more that 99% of the > Anopheline mosquitos and even more important it killed nothing else. > > This report has just come out but already there are howls of protest. Some > who say this technology shouldn't be used because genetic engineering is > inherently evil. Others say is would be immoral to drive a species into > extinction even if it's only an insect. The head of the Mother Earth > Foundation said "Fighting malaria is something that everybody should do. > But fighting malaria through genetic engineering is dangerous". I guess > he things 400,000 people dying every year is not dangerous. > > Abstract: > > *Malaria control efforts require implementation of new technologies that > manage insecticide resistance. Metarhizium pingshaenseprovides an > effective, mosquito-specific delivery system for potent insect-selective > toxins. A semifield trial in a MosquitoSphere (a contained, near-natural > environment) in Soumousso, a region of Burkina Faso where malaria is > endemic, confirmed that the expression of an insect-specific toxin (Hybrid) > increased fungal lethality and the likelihood that insecticide-resistant > mosquitoes would be eliminated from a site. Also, as Hybrid-expressing M. > pingshaense is effective at very low spore doses, its efficacy lasted > longer than that of the unmodified Metarhizium. Deployment of transgenic > Metarhizium against mosquitoes could (subject to appropriate registration) > be rapid, with products that could synergistically integrate with existing > chemical control strategies to avert insecticide resistance.* > > Transgenic Metarhizium rapidly kills mosquitoes in a malaria-endemic > region of Burkina Faso > <https://science.sciencemag.org/content/364/6443/894> > > John K Clark > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/de0a3c09-46f4-4c19-bf0d-9176afc8c9d8%40googlegroups.com.
