Reducing Mosquito Populations Through New Scientific Innovation

Disease transmission through mosquitoes has killed millions of humans through the decades. This negatively impacts a country’s economy and the health and welfare of an induvial. In an attempt to control mosquito-borne illnesses, many insecticides were invented, and one of the most popular was dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). However, DDT has led to many health and environmental issues. Therefore, based off of current research, we propose that genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes will be a safer and more effective alternative in the fight against mosquitoes. We will use CRISPR Cas 9 to modify the genomes of individual mosquitoes which will reduce malaria transmission rates. These modified mosquitoes will be released into the wild to mate with wild type mosquitoes and pass down the modification to the next generation.