Insects cover our planet. Filed into 750,000 different species,
at any given time there are one million trillion bugs buzzing
around the globe. About 14,000 of those species are blood-
feeders, meaning they drink their meals by puncturing the skin
of vertebrates, including humans. Besides being a nuisance,
blood-feeding insects, such as certain strains of mosquitoes,
are infected with parasitic organisms that are no threat to the
bugs themselves, but if transferred to humans, become toxic, or
worse, lethal. A new collection of studies from PLoS charts
alternative strategies for curbing mosquito-borne diseases such
as dengue and malaria using genetically modified insects. The
idea is to create mosquitoes that are less infectious and pass
their altered genetics to the next generation by breeding with
their natural counterparts. Even though GM insects offer
potential relief from malaria and dengue, which remain
untreatable, unpreventable diseases in much of the developing
world, there is still a lot of skepticism