Biosecurity

Genetic engineering could thwart the Zika virus, among other mosquito-borne diseases

Despite the recent media frenzy concerning CRISPR and a much-vaunted genetics revolution, there have been few changes a lay person could use to show how our world has fundamentally changed thanks to genetic engineering. In fact, as technology pundit Peter Thiel put it, “Our world looks strangely old.” Save for cell phones and personal computers, much of our day-to-day existence is not that far removed from the state of things 20 or even 30 years ago.

With the recent use of genetically engineered mosquitoes in Brazil to halt the spread of the Zika virus, we might be beginning to see some major health improvements as a consequence of the genetics revolution. A world in which mosquitoes were all but eliminated from the ecosystem would look quite different from the world of today, especially for people living in the tropics where the threat of mosquito transmitted infections does more than just mar an otherwise tranquil margarita sipped from the veranda of a beach resort. This is not to beggar the more mundane advantages of a mosquito-free habitat, but rather call attention to the fact that for large parts of the world, including Brazil, mosquitoes can be the difference between life and death.