A First: Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Are Being Considered To Help Fight Pests, Diseases

Researchers, since a long time have been trying to find a solution to combat mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever.

A French company InnovaFeed, that specialises in the production of insects to feed livestock, is partnering with the Australian research World Mosquito Program (WMP) for what according to it is the first industrial-level production of mosquitoes.

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These mosquitoes can be modified and released into wild populations in order to keep numbers down.

As there is an increase in the infection rates of illnesses carried by mosquitoes, companies and researchers are trying to develop effective means of controlling the their population.

In the past two decades, dengue cases have multiplied by eight: from 500,000 cases in 2000 to 4.2 million in 2019.

In recent years, dengue and zika virus have become genuine problems for France as there have been major outbreaks at its overseas territories in the Indian Ocean, Pacific and South America.

"The idea is to help cities on a large scale, with several million people," cofounder of InnovaFeed Aude Guo told AFP.

In Indonesia, an impact study on 300,000 people showed that dengue infection rates decreased by 77 per cent in regions where the modified mosquitoes were introduced.

The partnership between InnovaFeed and WMP aims at take this method to another level.

Also Read: Mosquito Spit Is Used In Vaccine That May End All Mosquito-Spread Diseases

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In the U.S, officials in the Florida Keys have voted to allow the first test of free-flying, genetically modified mosquitoes as a way to fight the pests and the diseases they spread.

A number of speakers raised uncertainties in releasing genetically engineered organisms. However, worries about mosquito-borne diseases proved more compelling.

The company Oxitec, based in the UK but financed by American funds, got the green light to release its lab-modified mosquitoes in Florida.

"Oxitec's safe, non-biting male mosquitoes are designed to suppress local wild populations of disease-spreading mosquitoes," AFP quoted a spokesperson for the company as saying.

Also Read: Scientists Find Microbe That Stops Parasite From Infecting Mosquitoes

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"The mosquitoes carry a self-limiting gene which means that when our mosquito males mate with wild females, their offspring inherit a copy of this gene, which prevents females from surviving to adulthood," Oxitec said.

750 million genetically mosquitoes will be released to battle natural mosquitoes in Florida.

According to scientists global warming could trigger major outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya or zika in the future, as mosquitoes thrive and breed well in warm temperatures.