VIDEO: See A Controversial Swarm Of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes In A Lab In Italy

VPM | By Rob Stein, Ben de la Cruz and Pierre Kattar

Published October 20, 2019 at 11:00 AM EDT

Updated March 3, 2023

An international team of scientists is conducting a controversial experiment in Italy. The experiment is designed to test genetically modified mosquitoes that researchers hope could provide a powerful new weapon to fight malaria, which remains one of the world’s greatest scourges.

The mosquitoes are an entirely new kind of genetically modified organism. The insects, members of the species that transmits malaria, were modified using the powerful gene-editing technique CRISPR to carry a sequence of DNA known as a “gene drive,” which is designed to drive the genetic modification rapidly through entire populations of the species.

The mutation is designed to sterilize populations of malaria-transmitting mosquitoes in the wild, causing them to crash. And that would, hopefully, help stop the spread of the malaria parasite. But the experiment is controversial because of fears that the genetically modified insects could cause unintended consequences on the environment if they were ever released in the wild.

So the mosquitoes are being tested first in a specially designed, high-security lab in Terni, Italy. The lab is designed to mimic the natural environment in sub-Saharan Africa — and to make sure none of the insects escapes.

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Rob Stein

Rob Stein is a correspondent and senior editor on NPR's science desk.

An award-winning science journalist with more than 30 years of experience, Stein mostly covers health and medicine. He tends to focus on stories that illustrate the intersection of science, health, politics, social trends, ethics, and federal science policy. He tracks genetics, stem cells, cancer research, women's health issues, and other science, medical, and health policy news.

Before NPR, Stein worked at The Washington Post for 16 years, first as the newspaper's science editor and then as a national health reporter. Earlier in his career, Stein spent about four years as an editor at NPR's science desk. Before that, he was a science reporter for United Press International (UPI) in Boston and the science editor of the international wire service in Washington.

Stein's work has been honored by many organizations, including the National Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association for Cancer Research, and the Association of Health Care Journalists. He was twice part of NPR teams that won Peabody Awards.

Stein frequently represents NPR, speaking at universities, international meetings and other venues, including the University of Cambridge in Britain, the World Conference of Science Journalists in South Korea, and the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC.

Stein is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He completed a journalism fellowship at the Harvard School of Public Health, a program in science and religion at the University of Cambridge, and a summer science writer's workshop at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass.

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