Controversy has continued to surround the National Institutes of Health (NIH). For instance, a number of politicians and researchers have charged the organization of supporting risky gain-of-function research abroad, namely in China. The NIH also supported a research that employed a box of genetically modified mosquitoes in an effort to vaccinate study participants, according to a recent news story.
Volunteers for the malaria trial put an arm over a box with hundreds of mosquitoes carrying a genetically modified malaria parasite. Here's why they did it that way — and why the trial holds promise. https://t.co/MMznNKvr7V
— NPR (@NPR) September 21, 2022
A study using a genetically modified parasite designed to produce a malaria vaccine was published in Science Translational Medicine on August 24. The fact that Plasmodium falciparum is the most lethal species in its class that transmits malaria to people by animal or insect bites or stings is particularly alarming.
Participants in the study physically lay their forearms over a cardboard box holding a large number of insects with the modified Plasmodium falciparum. A wire mesh top on the containers allowed insects to bite while preventing them from escaping. The researchers “literally [used] a Chinese food takeout container,” one of the subjects told NPR.
One day, according to scientists, diseased mosquitoes will be released to protect unknowing and reluctant humans from the deadly effects of malaria. However, a complete immunization needs numerous bites, and this specific vaccine’s efficiency rate is currently far lower than what is required to adequately protect the populace.