Sterility gene for mosquito management — Science News, December 18, 1971
Scientists are working arduous to search out an alternative choice to DDT within the management of malaria vector mosquitoes.… Two experiments with mosquitoes breeding in outdated tires in New Delhi level to a solution: a gene for sterility that will be handed to offspring.
Update
Today, scientists are testing a wide range of pesticide-free methods to regulate mosquito populations that unfold malaria, Zika, dengue and yellow fever. One method entails infecting male bloodsuckers with a pressure of Wolbachia micro organism (SN: 6/10/17, p. 10). When the contaminated males mate with females, their offspring die earlier than hatching. Another technique tweaks mosquito DNA in order that males go on a daughter-killing trait and all feminine offspring die, shrinking populations over time. The mosquitoes, bred by the England-based biotech firm Oxitec, took their first U.S. flight in May following a years-long debate in regards to the security of such organisms.