I truly feel like singing the song weird science as you read this post. Malaria is an infectious disease of humans that is transmitted through a mosquito bite. It is Primarily found in tropical and subtropical regions and is a major problem in Africa. Although London is in the news for the recent riots, they have something else news worthy under their belt.
With the creation of spermless mosquitoes, scientists may have found a way to combat the spread of the disease and reduce the mosquito population. Originally researchers at the Imperial College of London didn't think it possible due to the fact that the mosquitoes became weak and frail once exposed to radiation. Recently they injected 10,000 mosquito embryos with tiny fragments of RNA designed to turn off a gene (zpg), which is essential in sperm development. After countless attempts the researchers were successful at creating 100 infertile mosquitoes, and the females mated with these males just as they would with fertile ones. Female mosquitoes are prone to only mating once and lay eggs, regardless of if their mate was fertile or not.
Don't get too excited about not having to carry around bug spray just yet. The researchers say that the process to create these mosquitoes is too labor intensive and it would take too much of an effort to get the right amount out to the population. Hey, one step closer is still one step closer for science. What do you think!?
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