Above about Malaysia to use lab mosquitoes for fighting dengue. Try product from the bottom of this blog under sponsor links.
Government authorities said Monday, Malaysia could be the first Asian country to use genetically modified mosquitoes for fighting the rise in dengue fever.
The programmed will see the release of genetically engineered male mosquitoes into the wild. The insects in the study have been engineered so that their offspring quickly die, which will help curb the increasing mosquito population, in a technique researchers hope could eventually eradicate the dengue mosquito altogether.
Laboratory test trials have made the Malaysian scientists optimistic.
The female of the Aedes aegypti mosquito that is quite common in Asia and Latin America is responsible for spreading dengue fever, whose symptoms include high fever, joint pains and nausea. There is no known cure or vaccine for the fever, which can lead to internal bleeding, circulatory shut-down, liver enlargement and even death in severe cases.
Efforts urging Malaysians to keep neighborhoods clean and destroy stagnant sources of water that are potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes, have failed and more innovation ways are needed for fighting dengue.
According to Health Ministry statistics, between January and early October, the number of dengue related deaths in Malaysia reached a total of 117, a 65% increase from last year. Overall, dengue infections increased 17% from last year to over 37,000 cases.
Lim Chua Leng, a Health Ministry official said, in the first experiment of its kind in Asia, Malaysian authorities plan to release between 2,000 and 3,000 genetically modified mosquitoes in two areas, after Cabinet approval has been received.
However, environmentalists are concerned the GM mosquito could fail to prevent dengue and also have unintended consequences.
Critics say the larvae will only die if their environment is free of tetracycline, an antibiotic commonly used for medical and veterinary purposes.
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