Why would anybody want to build a better mosquito you ask?  Perhaps to save millions of lives in developing countries.  A recent article from Popular Science highlights research being done by scientists at the University of Arizona to genetically alter mosquitoes so they can’t carry the parasite that causes Malaria.  According to the article every year 250 million people are infected with Malaria and it kills around 1 million.  This makes malaria a huge health concern world wide.  Scientists at the University have actually managed to engineer a mosquito that is 100% resistant to the malaria parasite. 

  The next step is finding a way to replace the native mosquitoes with the new ones.  This is no small task considering the mosquitoes of today are the result of millions of years of evolution and natural selection.  The gentically engineered mosquitoes will need to be given a competitive adavantage of some sort which is kind of scary to think about if you ask me.  Especially if it means making them more aggressive in any way.  I would hope they don’t get any larger or hungrier or have sharper mouth parts or something.  I’m getting itchy just thinking about it. 

  In any case there may be a day in the future when a mosquito bite is just a mosquito bite with no concern of contracting some deadly illness or condition.  I’d like to suggest they start on ticks next.

Read the Article Here