No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeTopicsEnvironment and WildlifePanama will use genetically modified mosquitoes to fight dengue

Panama will use genetically modified mosquitoes to fight dengue

PANAMA CITY – Panama will try to control a dengue outbreak that has claimed six lives this year by releasing transgenic mosquitoes. Officials believe the mosquitoes can render infertile female transmitters of the disease, officials said.

Health Ministry Director Carlos Gálvez told AFP the technique has “shown promise” in Brazil and the Cayman Islands.

In Panama, it is being run by the Instituto Gorgas tropical research institute.

“The GM male mosquitoes have contact with the females that transmit dengue; then the eggs the (non-GM) females lay no longer produce (dengue-)transmitting mosquitoes,” he explained.

Gálvez said the GM mosquitoes are not a danger to humans because they do not feed on blood, but rather on fruit.

GM mosquitoes live for just a week, while normal ones live for a month.

The ministry plans to release the GM bugs in two weeks, numbering in the hundreds for each estimated dengue-transmitting female.

Popular Articles

CASA Unites Costa Rica, Guatemala & Honduras Sport Fishing

To strengthen fishing tourism as an engine for sustainable development, fishing tourism organizations from Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica signed the Letter of Understanding...

Costa Rica’s Bee Lab Saves Bees, Boosts Coffee Yields

Costa Rica is taking bold steps to protect its vital bee populations with the launch of the Bee Lab, a beekeeping laboratory in Naranjo...

Costa Rica’s Massive Fish Kills Also Kills Tourism

In Costa Rica’s Caribbean lowlands, the Madre de Dios and Santa Marta lagoons in Barra del Pacuare, spanning Matina and Siquirres in Limón, are...
spot_img
Costa Rica Tours
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait

Latest Articles