June Yu BooksJune Yu BooksJune Yu BooksJune Yu Books
  • Home
  • About
  • Writing
  • Speaking
  • Blog & Resources
    • Blog
    • Writers
    • Teachers & Youth Leaders
    • Media
  • Contact
  • BUY

What if… you could cure malaria by wiping out mozzies through gene editing?

    Home Genetics What if… you could cure malaria by wiping out mozzies through gene editing?
    NextPrevious
    Malaria mosquito

    What if… you could cure malaria by wiping out mozzies through gene editing?

    By June Yu | Genetics, Science | 0 comment | 10 September, 2018 | 0

    Because I work with charities that deal with the effects of malaria, I’m very aware that this mosquito-borne disease is responsible for over a million deaths each year, many of them children under age 5. I’ve written many appeals to help raise funds to prevent and fight against malaria infection.

    Plus I hate mosquitoes anyway. Forget body sculpting, at times in my life, mosquitoes have quite literally reshaped my arms, legs and face. I’ve had mozzie bites in places I was never aware of until that familiar itchy heat made me contort into the weirdest positions so I could scratch (or not).

    So the idea that CRISPR gene editing could cause the collapse of a disease-carrying population of mosquitoes… well, my immediate reaction was, “Take that, suckers!”

    The technique involved altering genes to make the male gene dominant so over time, the mozzies would stop producing females. The altered mozzies were introduced into a population of 450 normal male and females. Within eight generations, the population no longer bred any females… and did not develop resistance to the gene drive.

    It’s a small sample and researchers don’t yet know the effects of introducing the technique in the wild.

    So what if… what if…

    What if… you could wipe out other insect-borne diseases in the same way?

    How about ticks that carry Lyme disease? Estimates say it affects over 288,000 people a year in the US. It’s not life-threatening but has uncomfortable symptoms including headaches, rash, fever. If untreated, it can lead to joint pain, paralysis, meningitis and heart problems. Like mosquitoes, it’s only the female ticks that bite and transmit Lyme disease.

    Or how about onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness. I’ve also written appeals to raise funds against this terrible disease. It’s caused by a parasite transmitted through the bites of female black flies. It causes severe itching and the eyelashes to turn inwards. This scratches the eye – yes, ouch -and leads to blindness. It affects 18 million people, with 270,000 who are blind.

    If this experiment with mozzies pans out and is successful in eradicating malaria… well, there’s a lot of other misery you can prevent if the same technique can be applied to the Lyme disease tick and the river blindness black fly.

    But the question is at what cost?

    Of course, nobody likes mozzie bites and it would be amazing to finally win the battle against malaria and other diseases passed on by these pesky insects.

    But what if deliberately collapsing an insect population has other unintended, undesirable consequences? Living in Australia, we know about the problems of introducing species into our ecosystems. Cane toads (introduced to control the cane beetle), foxes (introduced for recreational hunting) and feral cats (introduced as domestic pets) are all responsible for killing native animals and livestock. Feral cats, in particular, are believed to be responsible for the extinction of some species.

    But what if we’re not talking about introducing a species… but eliminating it by hacking their DNA?

    What if question. If it can be done, should we use this gene editing technique to wipe out malaria and other diseases? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

    crispr, genetics, malaria, mosquitoes

    June Yu

    More posts by June Yu

    Related Post

    • Phytoplankton apocalypse

      FLASH FICTION: The Bloom of Small Things

      By June Yu | 0 comment

      This short story was inspired by the idea of a phytoplankton apocalypse. Read the story below or skip straight to More on why I wrote this story.   The Bloom of Small Things   Slap!Read more

    • goats milk

      What if… you could buy human breast milk… lactated from goats?

      By June Yu | 0 comment

      A while back I stayed with a good friend who keeps two goats. One of them was a gentle, charming animal. The other was having a bad day and headbutted me in the behind. Anyway.Read more

    Leave a Comment

    Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    NextPrevious

    You’re invited to join the What If conversation

    Don’t miss a blog! Sign up to the What If Report. It will travel the ether to your inbox every three weeks with the latest blog posts related to science, genetics, ethical dilemmas and other bits and pieces.

    Recent Posts

    • Miscreation? Book Launch
    • What if… working from home was an amazing immersive experience?
    • October book reads for you
    • September book reads for you
    • What if you shared everything from transport to food? Bring it on or back off?

    Recent Comments

    • June Yu on SHORT STORY: Jamila’s Armour
    • Chris on SHORT STORY: Jamila’s Armour

    Categories

    • Animals
    • Books
    • Clothing
    • Environment
    • Fashion
    • Fiction
    • Flash Fiction
    • Genetics
    • Humanity
    • Miscreation
    • Privacy
    • Science
    • Space
    • Spirituality
    • Sustainable
    • Technology
    • Writing
    • Home
    • About
    • Writing
    • Speaking
    • Blog & Resources
      • Blog
      • Writers
      • Teachers & Youth Leaders
      • Media
    • Contact
    • BUY
    Copyright © 2018 June Yu. All Rights Reserved.
    • Home
    • About
    • Writing
    • Speaking
    • Blog & Resources
      • Blog
      • Writers
      • Teachers & Youth Leaders
      • Media
    • Contact
    • BUY
    June Yu Books