Researchers are breeding genetically modified mosquitoes to be malaria-resistant.

Malaria mosquitoes in a lab were wiped out using CRISPR

Scientists at Imperial College London disabled a gene in female Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes to make them infertile and propagated the infertility mutation at unnaturally high rates using a gene drive. The entire population collapsed within a dozen generations, showing promise for subsequent with mosquitoes in mimicked tropical environments.

Anopheles mosquitoes are developing resistance to insecticides.

Mosquitoes are the world's deadliest animal, but gene drives could kill them.

Genetic engineering mice is one idea to reduce Lyme disease transmission

Wild white-footed mice are the main carriers of Lyme. A research team is hoping to genetically engineer mice, using CRISPR, to make the animals immune to Lyme. They're proposing a field trial where they would insert a gene with an antibody to Lyme infection to break the disease transmission cycle on a private island and then try it in Nantucket if that goes well. Simply killing the mice isn't an option because it would upend food webs. Unlike traditional vaccines, this "heritable immunization" would pass from one generation of mice to the next.

Explore inside a mosquito factory where millions of mosquitoes are bred weekly

In Medellin, Colombia, scientists are infecting Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with Wolbachia, a bacterium that wouldn't otherwise infect the species, but does block its ability to transmit dengue, Zika, yellow fever, and chikungunya. In the wild, infected mosquitoes would breed with wild mosquitoes, pass down Wolbachia, and thus reduce disease transmission.

Wolbachia is also being used to slash mosquito numbers

The naturally occurring bacterium does not naturally infect Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, but communities in locations including California and Texas have released male mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia and reported a significant drop in subsequent mosquitoes: When infected males mate with uninfected wild females, the eggs don't hatch.

Synthetic biology can prevent extinction by creating create disease-resilient plants and animals

Through gene editing and the deployment of artificial cells, scientists can leverage learnings from the genetic sequencing of animals with known resistances to protect endangered species. Gene editing of certain species, such as mosquitoes, can also reduce their ability to spread diseases like malaria between humans.

Wolbachia is a naturally occurring bacterium being employed to fight dengue

Scientists are fighting dengue spread in a roundabout way: injecting bacteria into Aedes aegypti mosquito eggs, which blocks the dengue virus from replicating in the tissue of mosquitoes. Researchers hope the bacterium will be passed to future generations, inoculating them against dengue. Wolbachia is also being investigated to combat other mosquito-borne diseases.

How we helped make Aedes aegypti mosquitoes such a problem

Mosquito genome sequencing data suggests that Aedes aegypti mosquitoes first started specializing on human blood around 5,000 years ago—when climates shifted and humans started domesticating plants in Africa and stored large amounts of water that may have attracted the bugs.

Using mosquitoes to vaccinate bats could curb the spread of deadly diseases.

CRISPR allows scientists to cut out and replace faulty or unwanted DNA, which can help treat genetic disorders, such as sickle cell disease, and create genetically modified organisms, such as allergen-free foods.

Scientists create the first CRISPR-modified spider to enhance its silk proteins

A research group at the University of Bayreuth used CRISPR-Cas9 to genetically modify spiders to produce glowing red silk. Spider silk is five times stronger than steel by weight, and this research paves the way for developing new silk functionalities.

Advances in agriculture are being powered by CRISPR to boost carbon capture

Researchers are using CRISPR to test thousands of plant gene edits, aiming to speed up breeding and maximize carbon retention in soil. By engineering drought tolerance, they also aim to increase crop yields and expand the environments where crops can grow.

Genetic analysis suggests Anopheles mosquitoes fed on humans some 1.8 million years ago.

While humans have been genetically modifying plants for millennia by selectively breeding organisms with certain traits, gene-editing tools like CRISPR have further enhanced plants, conferring resistance to drought, pests, and diseases.

Female Anopheles mosquito bites are the primary way malaria spreads.

What if we killed every mosquito on Earth?

Mosquitoes aren't just annoying, they're deadly. they're also responsible for an estimated 725,000 deaths worldwide, every year. Would it be so bad if we found a way to wipe them out completely? Real scientists have gamed out this hypothetical scenario, concluding it actually wouldn't be that bad. This five-minute video breaks down one way this could happen.

See this graphic of the complex malaria transmission lifecycle.

Iceland, the last mosquito-free country, detected them in 2025.

CRISPR is a gene-editing tool that lets scientists cut out and replace damaged DNA.

Some mosquitoes are key pollinators—and eat disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Wolbachia: the bacteria that could eliminate dengue fever

Dengue fever, transmitted by mosquitoes, kills more people annually than all types of natural disasters combined. However, mosquitoes that host Wolbachia bacterium have their ability to transmit the virus naturally suppressed, offering a route to eliminating nearly 25,000 deaths annually.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

There may be 500,000 additional malaria deaths by 2050 according to peer-reviewed research published in 2026.

Twin studies helped scientists understand why mosquitoes like some of us more than others

A combination of carbon dioxide output, skin chemistry, genetic factors, hormones, and clothing choice can make us particularly vulnerable to mosquito bites. Watch how mosquitoes responded to one man in the video versus his wife, a research approach typically conducted with identical and fraternal twins to test mosquito attractiveness.

The mosquito's role in the transmission of malaria was confirmed in 1897.

Astronauts have repaired genetic damage in space using CRISPR—a molecular tool that can make precise changes to DNA and is used in single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses.

Pregnancy makes someone more attractive to the mosquito species that transmits malaria.

CRISPR can't fix faulty mitochondria

Gene editing via CRISPR could theoretically fix many issues in biology, but editing the mitochondrial genome has remained challenging. In recent years, there has been some progress reaching these cellular powerhouses. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Genetic engineering has accelerated millennia of altering various crops' genes

Although farmers have long cross-bred crops to obtain plants with specific colors, sizes, and other characteristics, these processes took significant time. Today, genetic modification in agriculture involves scientists altering an organism's DNA for various purposes, including enhancing pathogen resistance, removing allergens, and delaying spoilage.

See how a novel gene editing technique called base editing can create changes in a single DNA base, using a more precise targeting approach than CRISPR-Cas9.

Billions of flies are being dropped from the sky

The US is dropping billions of sterile flies to stop a deadly parasite. Screwworm maggots eat animals alive, so scientists are collapsing the population by ensuring females can’t reproduce.

10 locally acquired malaria cases were reported in the US in 2023—a surprise

The cases, reported in Florida, Texas, Maryland, and Arkansas, broke a 20-year streak since there had been no reported locally acquired mosquito-transmitted malaria in the country since 2003, when there was a case in Florida.

As of February 2025, there are more than 150 clinical trials using CRISPR technology

The clinical trials are designed to determine whether experimental CRISPR-related therapies are safe and effective. The majority of trials involve treatments for blood disorders, including beta thalassemia.

Genetics may account for nearly 67% of mosquito attractiveness.

CRISPR-Cas9 enables precise genome editing using a simple RNA-guided system

Jennifer Doudna's research uncovered how bacteria use the tool as an immune defense by cutting viral DNA. She and Emmanuelle Charpentier received the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry for showing how this mechanism could be engineered to target and edit genes in living cells.

West Nile virus was detected in UK mosquitoes for the first time in 2023

Fragments of the virus were detected in mosquitoes that were being collected in Britain for the first time in 2023, but the UK government considers the overall risk to people to be low. As of spring 2026, there have never been detected locally-acquired cases of the disease.

The first CRISPR-approved treatment was for sickle cell anemia in 2023

Victoria Gray was the first patient to receive a CRISPR-based therapy, which eliminated her symptoms and restored her health. The therapy's initial cost of $2.2M has kept it out of reach of many patients.

CRISPR technology is removing allergens from common foods

Proteins responsible for allergies to eggs, milk, wheat, peanuts, and other foods can be genetically edited out of foods to reduce the risk of life-threatening reactions. The technique has also been used to produce caffeine-free coffee beans, spicier tomatoes, allergen-free pets, and more nutritious fish.

Epigenetic editing—altering gene expression by removing or adding chemical groups on DNA—is making significant strides in the lab, even lowering cholesterol in monkey experiments by about 70%. (Free w/email.)

Examining the potential of the emerging field of insect-based bioremediation

Also known as entomoremediation, the novel approach uses larvae and adult insects, including their gut microbiomes and associated enzymes, to extract or degrade pollutants. As of 2025, research has shown that black soldier flies can degrade a wide range of antibiotics, highlighting their potential for bioremediating antibiotic-contaminated organic waste.

Hear what it's like to have malaria from a patient who suffered from the mosquito-borne disease.

Scientists are using CRISPR to genetically modify felines so they don't trigger allergies in humans.

Mosquito necroprinting uses an insect's mouthpart as the printer nozzle

Mosquitoes are abundant, and their nozzles are 32-100 times cheaper to harvest than to create from scratch out of metal or glass. By coating the organic nozzle to increase its strength, researchers are employing necroprinting to create tiny structures at better resolutions than commercial alternatives.

Mosquitoes even have olfactory receptors on their sperm.

Molecular evidence suggests the deadliest malaria parasite may be 100,000 years old.

Genetic engineering will change everything forever

Designer babies, the end of diseases, genetically modified humans that never age. Outrageous things that used to be science fiction are suddenly becoming reality. As scientists increasingly understand how specific genes cause disease, the possibility of engineering our genes to not only "fix" problems but enhance our natural ability grows.

A deeper (nontechnical) dive into how CRISPR works

Extra crispy? No, it's CRISPR, but this gene-editing technology is "extra" in the sense of being momentous and destined to change everything. Through CRISPR, scientist exploit a quirk in bacteria immune systems, allowing them to potentially, and quickly, control genes, remove undesirable traits, and add preferred ones. The possibilities and applications are endless.

Bedbug problems have been increasing, and some 2023 research suggests the tiny insects may be capable of spreading 'superbug' MRSA.

Different enzymes can be used in the CRISPR system to modify how DNA is cut

The system uses RNA sequences to guide enzymes like Cas9 to specific spots in DNA, where they cut or modify genes. Unlike Cas9, the Cpf1 enzyme makes staggered cuts, which helps insert new DNA more cleanly.