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Better Mosquito: Transgenic versions spread less malaria

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

Genetic engineers have built a mosquito that’s wonderfully bad at transmitting malaria in lab tests.

NEW BREED. Green-glowing marker indicates transgenic mosquito larvae (top and bottom in upper image; right in lower image). Jacobs-Lorena Lab/Nature

Transgenic versions of a mosquito species that bedevils India are only 20 percent as likely to transmit a mouse version of the disease as the untransformed mosquitoes are, says Marcelo Jacobs-Lorena of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.