Search results
Apr 20, 2024 · GM mosquitoes are mass-produced in a laboratory to carry two types of genes: A self-limiting gene that prevents female mosquito offspring from surviving to adulthood. A fluorescent marker gene that glows under a special red light. This allows researchers to identify GM mosquitoes in the wild.
Mar 12, 2022 · By Tim Fitzsimons. A British biotech firm this week got the green light from U.S. regulators to release over 2 million genetically modified mosquitoes in Florida and California as part of an...
- Tim Fitzsimons
Apr 20, 2022 · The first open-air study that released genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys has just concluded. The experiment was designed to show whether these modified bugs could help...
- Hannah Seo
Mar 30, 2022 · The Environmental Protection Agency has cleared the release of 2.4 billion genetically-modified mosquitoes in California and Florida. The mosquitoes, created by biotech firm Oxitec, will be...
- Margaret Osborne
- Overview
- Following the plan
Download PDF
Researchers have completed the first open-air study of genetically engineered mosquitoes in the United States. The results, according to the biotechnology firm running the experiment, are positive. But larger tests are still needed to determine whether the insects can achieve the ultimate goal of suppressing a wild population of potentially virus-carrying mosquitoes.
The experiment has been under way since April 2021 in the Florida Keys, a chain of tropical islands near the southern tip of Florida. Oxitec, which developed the insects, released nearly five million engineered Aedes aegypti mosquitoes over the course of seven months, and has now almost completed monitoring of the release sites.
Based in Abingdon, UK, the firm reported the first results from the experiment during a webinar on 6 April, although it has not yet published the data.
Wild A. aegypti mosquitoes can carry viruses such as chikungunya, dengue, Zika and yellow fever, so scientists have sought ways to reduce their populations. Oxitec’s engineered males carry a gene that is lethal to female offspring. If all goes to plan, when released into the environment, the engineered males will mate with wild females, and their female offspring will die before they can reproduce. Male offspring will carry the gene and pass it on to half of their progeny. As each generation mates, more females die, and the A. aegypti population should dwindle.
First genetically modified mosquitoes released in the United States
- Emily Waltz
3 days ago · The genetic modification of mosquitoes has the potential to be a powerful ally in the fight against malaria. Technologies are being developed that could help reduce the number of mosquitoes that ...
People also ask
What happened to GMO mosquitoes?
How many genetically modified mosquitoes have been released in Florida?
Can genetically modified mosquitoes reduce wild mosquito populations?
Can genetically modified mosquitoes be tested open-air?
Apr 30, 2021 · The first release of genetically modified mosquitoes in the United States began this week in the Florida Keys – the culmination of a decade-long effort by local mosquito control authorities...
