Genetic trick to make mosquitoes malaria resistant passes key test
The rollout of a type of genetic technology called a gene drive for tackling malaria could be edging closer after a lab study supports its success
Life
The rollout of a type of genetic technology called a gene drive for tackling malaria could be edging closer after a lab study supports its success
10 December 2025
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Scientists tested the approach on Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes, which are endemic to Tanzania, where they transmit malaria
James Gathany/CDC via AP/Alamy
A genetic technology known as a gene drive could help prevent malaria by spreading genes in wild mosquitoes that stop them transmitting the parasite. Tests in a lab in Tanzania have now confirmed that one potential gene drive should achieve this if it were released in the country.
“It would be a game-changing technology, that’s for sure,” says George Christophides at Imperial College London.
A specific piece of DNA in the genome of an animal is normally passed on to only half its offspring, because a parent’s DNA is divided in half among egg or sperm. Gene drives increase this proportion, meaning a bit of DNA can spread rapidly through a population even if it provides no evolutionary benefit.