GMOs had quietly been in use for decades when they became controversial - for saving a fruit in Hawaii that legacy techniques like breeding and chemicals had not.

The Rainbow Papaya became a home run for genetic engineering, the first genetically rescued organism, and that made it a target for environmental groups who had ignored it when it was saving diabetics by creating insulin.

Lawyers have not stopped campaigning against GMOs since, and are calling on all media allies to criticize Mexico for refusing to ban GMO corn, but while they fight the past, biotech may be winning another fight for the future; against malaria.


Credit: DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ads3658

Right now, DDT is the most effective chemical against the ecologically useless mosquitoes that are just disease vectors for malaria. Though banned in the U.S. for political reasons over the objections of scientists, it is still successfully used elsewhere. The US EPA literally writes the book on how to spray DDT in homes to keep people safe but scientists are always seeking new ways to improve public health - while rich white people complain.

The next possible breakthrough is biotech based on the dead cells of the bacterium Chromobacterium sp. Panama. In standard bait, it killed both ordinary and -pesticide-resistant malaria-transmitting Anophelines mosquitoes in Africa. Even in small amounts, it made them more vulnerable to standard chemical pesticides.

White environmentalists in rich countries hate science more than they love brown and black children so while their lawyers to block safety, 600,000 kids are killed annually by diseases spread by these mosquitoes. Over time, insects can develop resistance to any chemical so, just like with antibiotics, new approaches are needed.

This is intriguing against malaria parasite and dengue virus mosquitoes because it's a powder, doesn't expire quickly, and works in high heat. It is completely harmless to other creatures but it works on those critters because it turns the pests' own detoxification system against them. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Innovative Vector Control Consortium, and the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute are all behind this, but when it goes to EPA for approval, every environmental group that can block it is going to try.

Hawaii is happy they failed, so let's try and give kids in Africa a happy Christmas in the near future as well.