GM mosquito ‘could fight malaria’:
In the team’s experiments, equal numbers of genetically modified and ordinary “wild-type” mosquitoes were allowed to feed on malaria-infected mice.As they reproduced, more of the GM, or transgenic, mosquitoes survived. After nine generations, 70% of the insects belonged to the malaria-resistant strain.
A detail seemingly meant to terrify non-scientists:
The scientists also inserted the gene for green fluorescent protein (GFP) into the transgenic mosquitoes which made their eyes glow green.This helped the researchers to easily count the transgenic and non-transgenic insects.
Over on the Freakonomics blog, they seem most concerned about the Ellsberg Paradox, and whether we prefer measurable risk to immeasurable uncertainty, but I’m more concerned that life-saving aid only causes more misery in any impoverished land without enough food to go around.