New Technology Designed to Genetically Control Disease-Spreading Mosquitoes
Published:02 Nov.2021 Source:University of California - San Diego
Leveraging advancements in CRISPR-based genetic engineering, researchers at the University of California San Diego have created a new system that restrains populations of mosquitoes that infect millions each year with debilitating diseases.
The new precision-guided sterile insect technique, or pgSIT, alters genes linked to male fertility -- creating sterile offspring -- and female flight in Aedes aegypti, the mosquito species responsible for spreading wide-ranging diseases including dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika.