Spiders may help us root out malaria

Could this be the start of the elimination of Malaria? “The experiment was tested on 1,000 female and 2,000 male insecticide-resistant mosquitoes in two separate spheres — one with the fungus and one without — and the results were published in the journal Science. The study found approximately 75% of the mosquitoes in the sphere were infected with the toxin and this lead to population collapse in just 45 days with just 13 mosquitoes remaining. When wild mosquitoes were allowed to live freely in the dome without the presence of the fungus the population increased over the same period.” One wonders what would be the effect on the Natural EcoSystem if this approach was implemented wholesale? But certainly a promising Study on this most terrible of diseases.

Having suffered these little blighters, it is a major breakthrough. Although genetically modified if managed and carefully tested it could reduce the suffering they cause. This little fly kills.

Scientists managed to genetically modify a fungus to make it produce spider toxin that rapidly kills 99% of malaria-causing mosquitoes potentially saving 400,000 human lives annually. The way the process was described by the scientists makes it sound so simple, however it is mind-boggling how scientists were able to take a set of genetic instructions from one species and introduce it into another essentially creating a new species. The scientists say this fungus does not kill other kinds of mosquitoes or bees. What they don’t mention however is that this newly created organism is not a product of the natural evolutionary process, and we may not know the full effects of introducing it in the environment until it’s too late. I’m not sure whether I am more happy that potentially many human lives will be saved or scared of the long term effects of introducing such new organisms into the wild! Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/g5zBpyE #Genetic #malaria #mosquitos #geneticengineering

Funnel web toxin! In a GM fungus, released to kill bad mosquitoes. That sounds really great but hang on a moment... there are BIG reasons why we do not want to make everything, or release GM stuff in the open: 1. We do not control what nature herself can do with what we might start. 2. Anyone could do the same smart science to a human fungus with a specific genetic target. Remember what scientists said when making the first nuclear weapons?

This is great news, malaria may be eradicated!