Eradication of Malaria: Now a possibility!

What happens when the best player of the opposition gets knocked down? Obviously you take a giant step towards victory. Well the scientists trying to find a cure for malaria seem to have done just that. They have been successful in attacking the main organ of this dreaded monster responsible for almost two million deaths worldwide every year. What I mean to say is that they have genetically modified a mosquito to be malaria resistant.

Several research groups have been constantly trying new genetic modifications for some years now. Their hardwork has finally borne fruit as researchers at the University of California, Irvine have successfully created a mosquito chain that not only doesn't allow the mosquito to spread the plasmodial parasite but also pass this characteristic to 99.5% of its offsprings! They surely have taken 'the bite' out of malaria. One more astonishing fact is that after this path-breaking research scientists believe that they may have stumbled across what may be a potential cancer cure !!.This is really great news for humanity.  
                            
Though this  gene modification was done on anopheles stephensis, a species responsible for spreading malaria in urban India, it is expected to work for all species with future experiments scheduled. The main goal of the scientists is to release genetically modified mosquitoes to mate with their wild counterparts causing the modified genome to enter the stain pool, thereby eventually short -circuiting the ability of the species to infect people with the disease.However chief tease archer and molecular biologist Anthony James has cautioned all by saying that this method may not be the entire solution to eradicate the disease, but along with the preventive drugs & future vaccines, it plays a very pivotal role in sustaining elimination of  malaria.

However, every coin has two sides and so does this technology. The moment the students in Anthony James basement in-sectary looked at the glowing eyes of the mosquito they had worked on ,the colour also containing the gene that renders the mosquito ineffective as a vector, they knew they had violated the laws of evolution .Since this gene drive, facilitated by the gene editing technology called CRISPR has evolved, the scientific community has always been at odds regarding the ethical use of this technology. Gene drives are just the latest fantastic power of the CRISPR technology, with speculation that it may be used to create designer human babies! Henry Greely, a bioethics specialist at Stanford says that the environmental effects are more worrisome than a few modified species. The  possibility of remaking the biosphere is enormously significant but realistic. "Indeed,who are we to alter the genetic composition of the Almighty's creation" ,says Dwight Peterson, professor of molecular biology at Harvard.

Well, this debate has no end and only time will tell on what the scientific communities agree. Lets hope that whatever it is,it's in the best interests of humanity.And also lets spare a moment and thank those who have worked tirelessly behind this project.They are the true heroes.