Asian malaria mosquito (Anopheles stephensi)

On desktop: Hold down the Shift key and scroll to zoom in or out of the image. Hold down the left mouse button to rotate.

On mobile: Pinch zoom with two fingers. Use two fingers to pan. Rotate with one finger.

This mosquito (Anopheles stephensi) has been genetically altered so that it can not carry the malaria-causing parasite. It is released to nature and captured, therefore is damaged and lacks three legs and an antenna. Developed at the University of California at Irvine in 2009, it is one of many mosquitoes reared in the lab with the intention of release into the wild. It is an early example of an ongoing effort to mitigate human diseases by altering, or eliminating, the animals that carry them. Researchers have adopted the so-called "replacement" strategy. It involves replacing the target population with mosquitoes carrying a genetic modification that blocks their ability to transmit the pathogen. To achieve this goal, carefully engineered DNA containing a gene resistant to the parasite was injected by hand into thousands of mosquito embryos. The transgenic mosquitoes are then mass-released into the field in the hope that they will mate with the wild population. The mating between a genetically modified individual and a wild individual allows the hereditary transmission of the new anti-malarial genetic trait. Theoretically, this characteristic could eventually spread throughout the entire population. The specimen belongs to Musée d'histoire Post-Naturelle and the 3D model is made by Christian Felsner.