British Scientists come up with plan to wipe out Malaria!

If some British scientists have their way,then millions of deaths resulting from Malaria especially in Africa and tropical zones will be a thing of the past!

British scientists could have found the key to wiping out malaria-carrying mosquitoes - by developing a genetically modified species that produces just male offspring.

Malaria is spread by infected female mosquitoes who pass on the killer disease when they bite humans.

But Imperial College London researchers looked to genetics to disrupt the breeding of mosquitoes so fewer females are produced, which should see mosquitoes die out within a few generations.

In lab tests they have modified mosquitoes to produce sperm that will only create males, pioneering a fresh approach to eradicating malaria.

Mosquitoe...The terror of tropical areas.

Genetically modified mosquitoes that almost exclusively produce male offspring could wipe out malaria

Releasing the GM mosquitoes into the wild could lead to the extinction of disease-carrying mosquitoes. Image shows a red blood cell deformed by the malaria parasite

This is the first time that scientists have been able to manipulate the sex ratios of mosquito

populations.

Since the millennium increased prevention and control measures have reduced global malaria mortality rates by 42 per cent, but the disease remains a prevalent killer especially in vulnerable sub-Saharan African regions.

Malaria control has also been threatened by the spread of insecticide resistant mosquitoes and malaria parasites resistant to drugs. 

Over 3.4 billion people are at risk from contracting malaria and an estimated 627,000 people die each year from malaria disease.

Professor Andrea Crisanti from the Department of Life Sciences said: 'Malaria is debilitating and often fatal and we need to find new ways of tackling it. We think our innovative approach is a huge step forward. 

'For the very first time, we have been able to inhibit the production of female offspring in the laboratory and this provides a new means to eliminate the disease.'

Dr Roberto Galizi said: 'The research is still in its early days, but I am really hopeful that this new approach could ultimately lead to a cheap and effective way to eliminate malaria from entire regions.

'Our goal is to enable people to live freely without the threat of this deadly malaria disease.'

sourceDailymail