UC San Diego — Antimalarial Gene Drive Research

[Human Health and Wellbeing] Open Philanthropy recommended a grant of $500,000 to UC San Diego to support the creation of a gene drive that will prevent mosquitoes from harboring the malaria parasite.  This work, led by Professor Ethan Bier, will complement existing work by the University of California Malaria Initiative (UCMI). UCMI has created a gene drive to block mosquitoes from transmitting malaria by giving them antibody-based immunity to the malaria parasite. Professor Bier’s team is developing an alternative technique that blocks malaria transmission by altering a mosquito protein that the parasite needs to reproduce. This grant will also support research to dampen or eliminate established gene drives (for instance, by silencing expression of the introduced genes). This falls within our focus area of scientific research, specifically within our interest in advancing human health and wellbeing.