Medalert: Ethical lapse in genetically engineered 'skeeters

U.S. scientists have genetically engineered mosquitoes with eyes that glow in the dark, don't carry malaria and have a better survival rate than their wild counterparts.

The study, published in this week's early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that the transgenic malaria-resistant mosquito "could one day be introduced into the wild, where it would outbreed natural mosquitoes and reduce the spread of malaria."

That's great. But, um, aren't we forgetting something here, folks? As long as we're mucking around with this insect's genetic code, why don't we just make them all allergic to humans?

Duh!

We don't have much malaria around here, but when I sit out on my front porch in the summer, we do have swarms of 'skeeters that give you whelps that hurt like the dickens. Doesn't that carry any weight with the lab-coated set?

I can't believe this important moral issue is being ignored.

I call on scores of you to stop scratching your mosquito bites and send your complaints to Dr. Mauro T. Marrelli, Department of Epidemiology, Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, SP, Brazil.

Remember: It's never too late for more tinkering with the genetic code.


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