We share a special episode of our podcast to mark World Mosqutio Day.

World Mosquito Day, observed annually on August 20th, commemorates British doctor Sir Ronald Ross's discovery in 1897 that female Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria to humans. More than a century later, major advancements like genetically modifying mosquitoes—AKA gene drives—have the potential to reduce malaria cases and deaths dramatically, but not without hurdles.

About The Podcast

The Johns Hopkins Malaria Minute is produced by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute to highlight impactful malaria research and to share it with the global community.

People often talk about the 'malaria toolkit' - how might gene drives fit?

Transcript

When people talk about malaria, they often mention the 'malaria toolkit' – a set of tools, like bed nets and indoor residual spraying, that are available to help curb the spread of disease. In the past, these tools were trusty go-to's – thanks to their efficacy, scalability and cost. Like the antimalarial drugs used to prevent and treat the disease, they’re primarily aimed at protecting individuals. Yet, a new technology called gene drives – which releases and spreads genetically modified mosquitoes that can't transmit the disease – aims to protect whole communities. How might they fit into the toolkit? Dr Damaris Matoka-Muhia of the Kenya Medical Research Institute considers gene drives a potentially sustainable, long-term and cost-effective solution for malaria – especially as resistance dulls other tools. And in Kenya, there are regulations in place to support gene drive implementation. The National Biosafety Authority, already used for GM crops like cotton can be leveraged, ready to roll out this innovation in the future.

Source

How could genetic approaches be integrated in the malaria toolkit?

About The Podcast

The Johns Hopkins Malaria Minute podcast is produced by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute to highlight impactful malaria research and to share it with the global community.

Gene drives are a novel way of genetically editing the mosquitoes that transmit malaria. They have the potential to dramatically reduce cases and deaths. But the technology they’re based on is new and requires new thinking on regulation.

In this first episode of our two-part focus on gene drives, we ask how drives work – examining the CRISPR technology behind them – and explore the hurdles for their release, including the risks, regulations and questions of consent.

With Professor Anthony James (University of California, Irvine) and Dr John Connolly (Target Malaria)

About The Podcast

The Johns Hopkins Malaria Minute is produced by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute to highlight impactful malaria research and to share it with the global community.