GMO is Good For You

Many is the time that I have wished for a world without mosquitoes.  They not only give itchy bites, but they spread deadly diseases and even worse, whine in my ear in the middle of the night.

Unfortunately this world does have mosquitoes, and removing them all (if possible) would not be a good thing.  Mosquitoes are firmly entrenched in the biosphere as food and hosts for a myriad of other living things.

Now there is good news.  The NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has sponsored some research using genetically modified mosquitoes to prevent the spread of malaria.   

By altering the microbiota (the viruses, bacteria, and other microscopically small things that live within the gut of the mosquitoes) they have been able to create mosquitoes that do not support the human malaria-causing parasites. These GM mosquitoes preferred to mate with wild mosquitoes and passed the desired protection to offspring.

After 7 years the descendents of the modified mosquitoes were still resistant to the parasites.   Thank you, GMO mosquitoes.

 More at https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170928145418.htm