London scientists make breakthrough in fight against malaria

Scientists at Imperial College London are celebrating a breakthrough in a new approach to tackling malaria after 8 years of research. For the first time ever, researchers have managed to genetically engineer mosquitoes so that when they breed, there is a strong bias to producing males in their off-spring. In test cases, the mosquito population died out after 5 or 6 generations because of the lack of females. It is the female that carries the malaria parasite and while this research is in the early stages, it's been widely welcomed. From London, Catherine Drew reports.

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Researchers in laboratories at Imperial college london use a special suction device to suck up mosquitoes and examine them. They're the flies that people usually
swat away. But these mosquitoes might be the most precious in the world and they are looked after day and night.

They are no ordinary flies…… They have been genetically modified to produce male off-spring.

Dr Nikolai Windbichler is the joint lead researcher on the project.

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So the idea is that if you release this mosquito strain that carries this gene induces the elimination of the x chromosome into the population level, at the population level, the sex ratio will be shifted more and more towards males so there would be more and more males in the population and fewer and fewer females, but because females are important for the population, at some point, the population disappears.

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This breakthrough is the culmination of 8 years of work. It took scientists here six years to overcome the problem of infertility in the genetically modified mosquitoes.
And that's why this population of mosquitos is so precious. Professor Andreas Crisanti oversaw the research at imperial college…and explains how this technique offers a unique opportunity to fight malaria.

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"The short term benefit is that you increase the number of males towards the females and the males do not transmit malaria so you reduce the number of mosquitos that transmit the disease and then you eventually reach a point where you have a population crash because there are not enough females to sustain reproduction at this point, you block transmission of malaria, at this point if you treat all the cases, you don't have malaria anymore. Even if the mosquito reappeared. "

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Malaria kills hundreds of thousands of people each year, mostly young children. 90 per cent of those deaths are in sub Saharan Africa and the disease is estimated to cost African economies billions of dollars.

This preventable and easily treated disease remains a killer in many parts of africa due to a lack of in fracture, funds and sometimes education.

The London scientists are working with communities in Kenya, Uganda and Burkina Faso to prepare for testing what happens when these mosquitoes are released in the wild. They hope field tests could be carried out in the next 2 or 3 years….depending on how their research is received by the authorities and residents at these sites. Professor Andreas Crisanti says while some may fear this high tech tampering with nature….. this approach will not harm existing eco-systems.

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Of about 3 thousand mosquito species only a handful transmit malaria and our technology is attuned to attack only 4 or 5 species so all the other species will remain untouched….so this is much milder than what will happen for example when spraying a rice field or for spraying insecticide.

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Campaign groups like malaria no more UK have welcomed the research as a promising development. AnneMarie Meyer is a spokesperson for the group.

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All the tools we have today are critically important and the new tools on the horizon so this is something that could be really exciting. It is early days but anything that could reduce mosquito populations and malaria-carrying mosquito populations significantly could prove a real advantage.

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While testing this development in the wild is some way off, the scientists are honing their research and keeping watch over their precious mosquitoes.
Catherine Drew, sign off, London.