Gene Editing Could Render Mosquitoes Infertile, Reducing Disease Spread
Published:23 Aug.2021 Source:U.S. Army Research Laboratory
Mosquitoes spread viruses that cause potentially deadly diseases such as Zika, dengue fever and yellow fever. New U.S. Army-funded research uses gene editing to render certain male mosquitoes infertile and slow the spread of these diseases.
Researchers at the Army's Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies and the University of California Santa Barbara used a gene editing tool known as CRISPR-Cas9 to target a specific gene tied to fertility in male mosquitoes. CRISPR-Cas9 is a genome editing tool that is creating a buzz in the science world, according to yourgenome.org. It is "faster, cheaper and more accurate than previous techniques of editing DNA and has a wide range of potential applications."