Malaysia uses genetically modified mosquitoes to treat dengue fever

Malaysia will be the first country in Asia to use genetically modified mosquitoes to combat the growing dengue fever.

Image for illustrative purposes. (Internet source)

According to the program, Malaysian scientists will release genetically engineered male mosquitoes into the environment so that they mate with female mosquitoes and produce mosquitoes with a shorter lifespan so they will prevent "rapid population increase " the culprit of this deadly disease.

Scientists are very optimistic about the results obtained through experiments.

On the sidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) conference in Kuala Lumpur earlier this week, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed that this was a pilot project but hoped it would bring positive results again. .

Dengue fever is a common disease in Asia and Latin America. The infected person has symptoms such as high fever, body aches and nausea but many cases can lead to internal bleeding, liver enlargement, stopping blood circulation and death. Currently, the world has not yet prepared a cure or a vaccine to prevent this disease.

In Malaysia, there were 117 people in the first 10 months of this year, out of 37,000 dengue cases, died, up 65% over the same period last year. In the past 10 years, the number of dengue cases in the world has doubled.

Malaysian authorities plan to release 2,000-3,000 genetically modified mosquitoes into the environment in the two states. This is the first time this project has been implemented in Asia to combat dengue.

WHO's Western Pacific Regional Director Shin Young-soo welcomed Malaysia's efforts but warned that it should be cautious when releasing a new species into the environment.