News Release

Scientists wipe out malaria-carrying mosquitoes in the lab by creating male-only offspring

Scientists have modified mosquitoes to produce sperm that will only create males, pioneering a fresh approach to eradicating malaria

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Imperial College London

Scientists have modified mosquitoes to produce sperm that will only create males, pioneering a fresh approach to eradicating malaria.

In a study published in the journal Nature Communications, scientists from Imperial College London have tested a new genetic method that distorts the sex ratio of Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes, the main transmitters of the malaria parasite, so that the female mosquitoes that bite and pass the disease to humans are no longer produced.

In the first laboratory tests, the method created a fully fertile mosquito strain that produced 95 per cent male offspring.

The scientists introduced the genetically modified mosquitoes to five caged wild-type mosquito populations. In four of the five cages, this eliminated the entire population within six generations, because of the lack of females. The hope is that if this could be replicated in the wild, this would ultimately cause the malaria-carrying mosquito population to crash.

This is the first time that scientists have been able to manipulate the sex ratios of mosquito populations. The researchers believe the work paves the way for a pioneering approach to controlling malaria.

Since 2000, 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. According to latest estimates by the World Health Organisation, over 3.4 billion people are at risk from contracting malaria and an estimated 627,000 people die each year from the disease.

Lead researcher Professor Andrea Crisanti from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London 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 Nikolai Windbichler, also a lead researcher from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London, said: "What is most promising about our results is that they are self-sustaining. Once modified mosquitoes are introduced, males will start to produce mainly sons, and their sons will do the same, so essentially the mosquitoes carry out the work for us."

In this new experiment the scientists inserted a DNA cutting enzyme called I-PpoI into Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes. In normal reproduction, half of the sperm bear the X chromosome and will produce female offspring, and the other half bear the Y chromosome and produce male offspring.

The enzyme that the researchers used works by cutting the DNA of the X chromosome during production of sperm, so that almost no functioning sperm carry the female X chromosome. As a result the offspring of the genetically modified mosquitoes was almost exclusively male.

It took the researchers six years to produce an effective variant of the enzyme.

"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 disease", concluded Dr Roberto Galizi from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London.

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The study is funded by a grant from the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, through the Vector-Based Control of Transmission: Discovery Research (VCTR) program of the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the European Research Council.

Contact:

Gail Wilson
Research Media Officer - Faculty of Natural Sciences
Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 6702
Duty press officer mobile: +44 (0)7803 886248
Email: gail.wilson@imperial.ac.ukgail.wilson@imperial.ac.uk>

Notes to editors:

1. Galizi, R. et al. 2014. 'A synthetic sex ratio distortion system for the control of the human malaria mosquito'. Nature Communications, 10 June 2014.

To download the paper before the embargo, go to: https://icseclzt.cc.ic.ac.uk/pickup.php?claimID=GW9kkMt7DvgnUfYD&claimPasscode=sUTbDYucbfmPKztZ&emailAddr=gail.wilson%40imperial.ac.uk

Claim ID: GW9kkMt7DvgnUfYD
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Once embargo has lifted on Tuesday 10 June 2014 at 1600 BST / 1100 US Eastern time, the paper can be downloaded at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/NCOMMS4977

2. About Imperial College London

Consistently rated amongst the world's best universities, Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts 14,000 students and 6,000 staff of the highest international quality. Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and business, delivering practical solutions that improve quality of life and the environment - underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture.

Since its foundation in 1907, Imperial's contributions to society have included the discovery of penicillin, the development of holography and the foundations of fibre optics. This commitment to the application of research for the benefit of all continues today, with current focuses including interdisciplinary collaborations to improve global health, tackle climate change, develop sustainable sources of energy and address security challenges.

In 2007, Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust formed the UK's first Academic Health Science Centre. This unique partnership aims to improve the quality of life of patients and populations by taking new discoveries and translating them into new therapies as quickly as possible.

Website: http://www.imperial.ac.uk


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