plans to release 20 million genetically modified mosquitoes
Whenever the hot summer comes, the most annoying thing for people is mosquitoes. If you bite a bag, you will feel uncomfortable. Mosquitoes will also spread diseases such as dengue fever . For humans, mosquitoes There is no beneficial effect at all, but just when everyone thinks that there are many mosquitoes, a British biotechnology company (Oxitec) plans to release 20 million mosquitoes in the near future. Why?
It is understood that the company is mainly engaged in research at the genetic level. The 20 million mosquitoes released this time are man-made gene-edited Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, mainly male mosquitoes, and female mosquitoes that bite people, so from this point It doesn't seem to increase our chances of being bitten, but people are still curious, what exactly does this gene-edited mosquito do? Why release into the environment?
What is a genetically modified mosquito.
As the name suggests, genetically modified mosquitoes are genetically edited, mainly with the help of genetically modified technology, which is quite perfect. In our lives, we often come into contact with genetically modified products, such as soybeans, tomatoes and other crops. The main purpose of transgenic is to increase the yield of agricultural products or to make a certain thing have the functions and characteristics of other things.
The pros and cons of genetically modified technology have always been the focus of discussion. Some people believe that genetically modified technology will not bring "genetic disaster" to human beings, as long as it is used properly, it can benefit human beings; After being eaten by people, it may destroy the gene structure in the human body, and even cause diseases such as cancer .
Although GMO has been debated, people still use this technology. After all, it can indeed bring a lot of benefits to human beings. Nowadays, many countries are still focusing on this technology, trying to edit human genes and help human evolution , but this technology is even more controversial, so the current research objects of scientists are mainly plants and animals. For example, this genetically modified mosquito developed by a British biotechnology company. The eyes of this mosquito are red, so even in wild can be clearly distinguished.
Why do scientists study genetically modified mosquitoes?
As mentioned earlier, mosquitoes are hated by people, and the main reason is that mosquitoes transmit diseases, such as dengue fever, malaria and other diseases.
Malaria is a terrible infectious disease , many people die from malaria every year. According to statistics, about 2 billion people live in areas with a high incidence of malaria, especially in Africa, where widespread malaria occurs every year.
In fact, the emergence of malaria is related to many factors, such as the environment, transmission medium , etc. Before liberation, many malaria outbreaks were found in our country, but after liberation, with the development of medical care and environmental changes, malaria in our country The number of deaths has dropped markedly.
The main source of malaria is Plasmodium , and Plasmodium can be transmitted through Anopheles , so Anopheles has become the number one public enemy of mankind. The whole world is trying to eliminate Anopheles. Once Anopheles disappear, the world The ill-treatment in China will be greatly alleviated, and countries with difficult conditions may be able to reduce the mortality rate.
But Anopheles is not so easy to eliminate, it has the characteristics of breeding fast, so this is a protracted battle, which also means that humans can completely eliminate Anopheles, but transgenic technology may be able to help us solve this difficulty , as long as we stop the Anopheles mosquitoes from spreading disease and agree to eliminate them. The difference between the
transgenic mosquitoes and ordinary ones is that the transgenic mosquitoes carry the protein of SM1, which can prevent the transmission of malaria. After the transgenic mosquitoes are released into the wild, they will mate with female mosquitoes, and the offspring will have SM1 protein, so that both male and female mosquitoes in the offspring have SM1 protein. It will continue to be inherited, and over time, the region will be able to effectively prevent the spread of malaria.
In fact, there are many ways to use transgenes to control the spread of diseases, such as editing mosquito genes to transmit infertility-related genes to female mosquitoes and their offspring, which can effectively reduce the number of mosquitoes and reduce Mosquito reproduction rate.
