News-Letter

Though these experiments demonstrate the need to produce multiple lines of transgenic mosquitoes to determine the one with the greatest fitness, it also has several important ramifications for the eventual introduction of transgenic mosquitoes into the wild. Since these mosquitoes generally do not survive as well in the wild, the methods to introduce them into the wild must give them a significant advantage over the natural populations.

Additionally, there are several ethical, legal and social issues that surround the potential introduction of transgenic mosquitoes into the wild. Not only are there concerns over the environmental impact of releasing genetically modified organisms, there is also the matters of consent and consensus of the communities into which the mosquitoes would be released.

Nevertheless, this research has the potential to significantly reduce the incidence of malaria in countries where the incidence of the disease is high and preventative measures are low. By targeting the sole transmitter of the malaria parasite to humans, the disease can be stopped before it even affects the lives of those living under malaria's threat.

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