Are glowing gonads the key to beating malaria?

Scientists have genetically modified male mosquitoes to express a glowing protein in their gonads, which may help in the global fight against malaria.

The researchers hope the technology could be used to control the mosquito population in what they say is another step towards solving world problems with GM.

The new GM sexing technique will allow scientists to spot male mosquitoes by their gonads (green)

Professor Andrea Crisanti, senior researcher on the project from Imperial College London, said: “This advance could have enormous implications for controlling mosquito populations. Now that we can identify males and females at an early stage, it will be possible to release sterile males into the population without the risk of releasing additional females.

“Female mosquitoes are responsible for spreading malaria, and also for damage to crops, but they are only able to breed once before dying. By forcing females to breed with sterile males, we can stop them creating additional mosquitoes and at the same time, reduce the population.”

The team used Anopheles stephensi, the mosquito responsible for much of the malaria in Asia. They engineered the mosquito larvae to express an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). The modified larvae were mixed with normal larvae, and the researchers were able to identify the modified male mosquitoes by their fluorescent gonads. Coupled with a high speed sorting technique, this will allow scientists to identify and separate the different mosquito sexes much more easily than by manually sorting.