Blog

From 16^th to 29^th November, the world converged to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, for the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity. This event gathered the parties signatory to the convention, non-parties, as well as observers from the civil society, indigenous people and local communities, as well as researchers.

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At Target Malaria in Burkina Faso, we are currently working on the first phase of our research – a genetically modified sterile male mosquito. The team in Burkina Faso has been working on the genetically modified sterile male mosquito in our contained insectary at the Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS) since its importation in November 2016 in Bobo-Dioulasso from Italy.

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Delegations from all over the world are converging to Egypt for the opening this week of the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity and related protocols.

This is a crucial time for research on innovative vector control against malaria using gene drive approaches. Decision-makers have the opportunity to reaffirm the importance of enabling research to support responsible innovation and evidence-based decision-making.

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Dr Tony Nolan is a molecular biologist and has been working with Target Malaria for about 8 years now. He is trying to manipulate the biology of the mosquitoes in ways that can interfere with their ability to transmit disease. He has worked mainly on the mosquito Anopheles gambiae, the main vector of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Often the first question that I am asked when I tell people about Target Malaria is ‘If you succeed, what about the other animals?’  This is an excellent question about potential ecological consequences and is rightly asked by all sorts of people in very many situations from academic meetings to day-to-day conversations.

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Malaria continues to rank high on Uganda’s health radar beckoning scientists, health care professionals and the general public to collectively seek innovative high impact solutions to complement existing malaria control tools. Over 200 million people are infected with malaria every year. In Uganda, over 12 million cases were reported in 2016, of which an estimated 13,000 deaths were reported (WHO 2017: 124). It therefore means that many have experienced bouts of malaria attacks, have nursed a loved one or even lost a close family member, friend or acquaintance to the disease.

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Professor Sir Charles Godfray is a Professor of Population Biology and the Director of the Martin School at the University of Oxford. He leads a team at Oxford that is a member of Target Malaria and they work on modelling the different aspects of the spread of genes through mosquito populations to better understand the consequence it may have on population.

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25^th April. Yet again another World Malaria Day. This day is commemorated since 2007. And in this last 11 years, so much was achieved, thanks to existing tools and combined efforts from governments, NGOs, civil society groups, researchers, corporate sector, and communities in endemic countries. Back in 2007, more than a million deaths were due to malaria, while the numbers of 2016 have decreased below half a million (WHO World Malaria Reports). So we should celebrate…

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