Transgenic Mosquitoes

Abstract:
For transmission of dengue virus and malaria pathogens occur, the causing agents of these diseases have to complete their developmental cycle inside the mosquitoes Aedes and Anopheles, respectively. Mosquitoes are therefore potentialweak links in dengue and malaria transmission. Genetically modified mosquitoes have been created aiming of either reducing their ability to transmit disease or suppressing target mosquito population by releasing transgenic males carrying a lethal dominant gene. There has been considerable progress over the last decade towards developing the tools for generating transgenic mosquitoes. These tools have provided researcherswith the ability to engineer refractory mosquito vectors and transgenic mosquitoes carrying lethal genes, but there are fundamental gaps in our knowledge of how to transfer this technology safely and effectively into field.