As the world celebrated World Mosquito Day on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, scientists have introduced a revolutionary technology that could conserve mosquitoes instead of killing them while eliminating some of the diseases transmitted by mosquitos.
Known as gene drive technology, this innovative approach promises to eliminate malaria, one of the diseases that is transmitted by mosquitos, without harming the mosquito population – a crucial aspect that could make this solution both effective and environmentally sustainable.
The Chairman and Executive Director at Environmental Health Safety (EHS Consultancy Ltd) and the Founder Head African Genetic Biocontrol Consortium, Dr Willy Tonui, stated this in Abuja at a workshop on expanding awareness and understanding of genetic bio-control in Africa.
Dr Tonui said that Gene drives have been successfully tested in laboratory settings to reduce mosquito fertility and spread resistance genes against the malaria parasite.
He further stressed that there are field trials and pilot studies underway to test the effectiveness and safety of gene drives in real-world environments.
“The innovative technology aligns perfectly with this year’s World Mosquito Day 2024 which is ‘Reaching the zero-malaria target’ because the technology is offering a sustainable and environmentally conscious solution to eliminate malaria, a disease that still claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year.”
“As of 2022, there were an estimated 608,000 global deaths due to malaria. This represents a slight decrease from the previous year but still highlights the ongoing impact of the disease, especially in high-burden countries. The majority of these deaths occurred in Africa, where the disease burden is highest.”
According to Dr Tonui, this is a major breakthrough because traditional methods of controlling malaria have heavily relied on insecticides and mosquito nets, aimed at either killing the mosquitoes or preventing them from biting humans.
By Zeniat Abubakar, VON
