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Controlling mosquitos with a gene drive that makes females infertile:
We've known for a long time that we can limit malaria infections by controlling the mosquitos that transmit them. But that knowledge hasn't translated into control efforts that have always been completely successful. Many of the approaches we've used to control mosquitos have caused environmental problems, and mosquito populations are large enough that they have evolved resistance to many of our pesticides.
That made the development of what are called "gene drive" constructs exciting (if a bit scary). They have the potential to rapidly spread genes throughout a population—including a mosquito population. But the prospect of a modern genetic control of mosquito populations has run up against the very old problem of evolution, as the gene drives often stall due to genetic changes that allow mosquito populations to escape their impact.
Now, a team has figured out a way that might avoid this problem: use gene drive to target a gene that's fundamental to how mosquitos develop as male or female. In doing so, it makes the females sterile and, at least in the lab, causes mosquito populations to collapse.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Immerman on Friday September 28 2018, @02:40PM
There's *lots* of species of mosquitoes. As I recall only one or two of them target humans, with the dominant people-biter being an invasive organism that has spread across the globe thanks to modern transportation systems. If we could successfully eliminate just that species (as a gene drive is intended to do) we'd actually be restoring ecological niches to the native, non-people-biting mosquitoes and other nectar-feeders. I see absolutely no reasoin to object to the *goal*.
The *strategy* they're considering on the other hand...
All those other species of mosquito are also so many different possibilities for successful cross-breeding, allowing the gene drive to spread into other species. Interspecies breeding is only *mostly* unviable, the genetic boundaries between species are often not quite as uncrossable as they teach in high school biology. There's no telling where they might stop. And gene drives can't be reliably eliminated once released, except by the extinction of the species. At best they could be replaced with another "benign" gene drive - and then you have permanently bestowed the "infected" species with cutting-edge microbial gene-editing technology. And evolution does so love to put useful genes to work...