Hong Kong (CNN) A population of the world's most invasive mosquito species was almost completely wiped out by an experiment on two islands in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, according to a study published Wednesday.
The experiment successfully reduced the female Asian Tiger Mosquito population -- the main source of bites and disease transmission -- by up to 94%, reducing the number of reported human bites by 97%.
It isn't the first attempt by researchers to reduce mosquito populations across the world. In 2018, scientists from the Imperial College of London used gene-editing tools to render female mosquitoes sterile, while males developed normally and continued spreading the genetic mutation.
One of the Chinese study's researchers, Xi Zhiyong, a professor at Michigan State University, has been a longtime pioneer in this field of study. Running a mosquito factory in southern China, he previously attempted to use sterilized male mosquitoes to mate with unaltered females.
"We're building good mosquitoes that can help us fight the bad ones", Xi told CNN in 2016.
Skiddy_Underpants on July 22nd, 2019 at 21:24 UTC »
So, in what way would this affect the overall ecosystem if mosquitos were totally eradicated (globally) in this method? Will it improve life or damage it in the long run? Basically, what purpose do mosquitos have in the circle of life?
designer_farts on July 22nd, 2019 at 20:25 UTC »
So what was the result of eliminating mosquitos?
g14l1fe on July 22nd, 2019 at 20:04 UTC »
They did trials on this in Africa as well. The mosquitoes are engineered using CRISPR/Cas9. It’s mainly to manage mosquito populations with high risk of dengee fever or malaria