A hive of genetically modified mosquitoes effectively vaccinated a human against malaria in a National Institute of Health-funded trial of the insects' ability to innoculate. Scientists held approximately 200 hungry, gene-altered mosquitoes captive in a box.. Human participants placed their arms over the box of mosquitoes
Researchers genetically modified the mosquitoes using genome technology known as Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR).
- The mosquitoes transmitted live malaria-inducing Plasmodium parasites to the twenty-six participants of the study, who each received $4.100 to undergo the experiment.
- A minimal amount of the fatal disease was transmitted via the mosquitoes' attack on their arms, not enough to make people sick.
The team of NIH-funded researchers claim the genetically modified mosquitoes will not be employed to vaccinate the masses and were only used to trial malaria vaccination to save costs.
- "He and his colleagues went this route because it is costly and time-consuming to develop a formulation of a parasite that can be delivered with a needle," NPR notes.
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