This is good news and we thank for oga Bill Gates pledge to eradicate malaria and the money he used to back the talk, but,
why did it take dem so darn long? As na African man disease abi?

GM mosquito bred to destroy malaria


The fight against malaria could eventually be transformed by releasing into disease-ridden areas genetically modified mosquitoes that cannot transmit the infection.

Scientists in America have engineered a species of mosquito which is resistant to the malaria infection. Its ability to block the infection suggests that it could come to dominate mosquito populations if released into the wild.

The findings offer the strongest suggestion yet that engineering mosquitoes to resist the parasite could help to control a disease that takes up to 2.7 million lives each year, chiefly in Africa. Malaria infects between 300 million and 500 million people each year. Only HIV/ Aids causes more deaths from infectious disease.

Large numbers of GM mosquitoes would be released in areas where malaria is common, where they would interbreed with wild ones. Over several generations, resistance should spread through the mosquito population, so that fewer insects carry malaria. However, this approach would prove controversial with environmental groups, as it would involve supplanting a naturally occurring species with a genetically engineered variant.

From The TimesMarch 20, 2007

The deadly bite

— The most severe form of malaria is caused by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, transmitted by the bite of the Anopheles genus, particularly Anopheles gambiae. It is spread by pregnant females

— Malaria killed people in the Fens until the 19th century

— It has been predicted that global warming may result in malaria returning to Britain

— Malaria infects between 300 million and 500 million people a year, mainly in Africa

— In sub-Saharan Africa, malaria affects mostly young children, with almost 3,000 dying every day

— Symptoms include neck stiffness, convulsions, abnormal breathing and fever of up to 40C (104F)

— Distribution of the tropical disease mainly affects developing countries. About 90 per cent of cases are in Africa

— It costs £6.8 billion a year in Africa in lost GDP. Death and disability lead to the loss of 45 million years of productive life each year

— Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Oliver Cromwell, Caravaggio and David Livingstone are thought to have died of it

— Those who had it but recovered include Lord Nelson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Gandhi and Hemingway

Source: WHO / UN / Times database