The first batch of genetically engineered non-biting mosquitoes will be released in Djibouti on Thursday in an attempt to stop the spread of an invasive species that threatens to swamp African cities and set back years of progress on tackling malaria.
The genetically modified Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes, developed by Oxitec, a US biotechnology company using technology spun out of the UK’s Oxford university, are engineered so that their female progeny die. Only female mosquitoes bite.
Similar technology was used in 2022 to combat dengue-carrying mosquitoes in São Paulo, Brazil, where it suppressed 96 per cent of dengue mosquitoes, according to a peer-reviewed journal.
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