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AlphaMetroid t1_ivgjtlg wrote

Reply to comment by dustydeath in English company Oxitec has released a simple, easy to distribute commercial product they say cuts Dengue Fever spreading mosquito populations by 96%. By just adding water, genetically modified mosquito eggs mature into males whose sperm cannot result in viable female larvae. by lughnasadh

Oh good, it didn't seem correct to me that they'd hit such a roadblock for such a similar type of pest.

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amateurviking t1_ivjebg5 wrote

The mosquitoes that transmit malaria are less easy to manipulate genetically, and their eggs can't be dried in the same way as they're way less hardy than dengue mosquito's eggs. So Oxitec started with the easier job, forugoid reason. Also there's way more commercial viability for anti-dengue interventions for all sorts of reason's.

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