GM mosquitoes: inside the lab breeding six-legged agents in the war on malaria

A British company is producing mosquitoes that carry a 'self-limiting' gene that kills off female offspring, limiting the spread of diseases such as malaria and dengue feverIn an unassuming building on an industrial estate outside Oxford, Michal Bilski sits in a windowless room with electric fly swatters and sticky tape on the wall, peering down a microscope. On the slide before him is a line of mosquito eggs that he collected less than an hour previously and put into position with a brush.Bilski manoeuvres a small needle filled with a DNA concoction and uses it to pierce each egg and inject a tiny amount. Continue reading...