A mosquito has been engineered that is resistant to malaria infection. “It is an audacious scientific project that could offer hope to 300 m malaria sufferers worldwide,” ( The Guardian , 21 March 2007). “Large numbers of [these] GM mosquitoes would be released in areas where malaria is common, where they would interbreed with wild ones,” ( The Times , 20 March 2007).

Every year, malaria infects 300–500 million people worldwide, and kills 2.7 million. The idea of genetically modifying mosquitoes to break the life cycle of the malaria parasite is not new. “Though the first GM mosquitoes were created seven years ago, they proved to be less fit than their wild counterparts,” (The Times, 20 March 2007). This time, it is different. The new, fluorescent-eyed strain created by a team from John Hopkins University in Maryland, USA, “...had a higher survival rate and laid more eggs. After nine generations, 70% of the insects belonged to the malaria-resistant strain,” ( The Daily Mail , 21 March 2007).

In a parallel effort, a team at Imperial College London, UK, created a strain in which males have fluorescent testicles, “...allowing scientists to easily separate them from females,” sterilize them and release them “...into the wild so they mate with wild females but have no offspring,” ( The Daily Telegraph , 21 March 2007).

Despite the promising news, the results will need to be repeated using the actual parasite that causes the most dangerous form of malaria in humans. The Maryland team used a parasite that does not infect humans and the mosquito that is the main Asian, not African, vector.

Moreover, environmental groups have concerns about “...supplanting a naturally occurring species with a genetically engineered variant. [...] Even scientists involved accept that further research is needed before any GM insects could be introduced into the wild,” (The Times, 20 March 2007).