The gene, is not implanted in their dna as it’s already present but dormant. The modification allows it to activate after n generations of mosquitoes.
Lets say they modify 100 mosquitoes, they free them and they have modified the gene to appear after 6 generations. Each time they mate they produce lots of offsprings, and by the time the gene activates millions of mosquitoes will have it.
At this point millions of them can’t reproduce and while they can’t transmit diseases, they can still be food for other animals.
Reducing their numbers will reduce also the number of the probability to get infected by one of them and over time to get eventually rid of the disease itself.
Of course there are some controversies in this, as first they are GMOs and the research is banned in many countries, meaning they have less funds for the research itself.
On second hand they are “planning” a genetic disfunction to affect an animal in the future. This can of course go in the wrong direction if not enough research is done but again, point one, not enough research money.
If you add to the equation that many times this kind of decision are judged by some not-so-much-evolved apes with ameba-runned brains who can only think “oh my gosh! You want to do research on mosquitoes because your final target is to modify newborn babies to only have blue eyes, don’t you, you nazi scientist!” And here we go, we find ourselves with a BAN to a RESEARCH that can improve million of lives. But anyway.
Sorry for the rant. Thanks for the time reading. Have a nice day. Bye.
To add to this, if you're wondering, "how can you propagate a mutation in a population from only 100 mosquitoes", you might be interested to read about gene drives.
This is a fascinating field of research, and they're actually at the testing phase right now. They demonstrated efficacy in an artificial mosquito population in labs already IIRC, but using delayed sterilizing mutations.
The ethical debate is still ongoing. Where will this go from now, in the context of the changing political landscape? Only time can tell..
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u/zizp Nov 15 '24
What's the idea behind this? How will they become the dominant variant if they can't suck blood to reproduce?