NIH Used a Box of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to Vaccinate Study Patients
(RightWing.org) – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) continue to find themselves surrounded by controversy. For instance, several lawmakers and scientists have accused the agency of funding dangerous gain-of-function research overseas — in China, to be exact. Likewise, a recent news report revealed the NIH funded a study that used a box of genetically-altered mosquitoes in an attempt to vaccinate study patients.
On August 24, Science Translational Medicine published a research study involving a genetically-altered parasite engineered to create a vaccine to protect humans from malaria. Particularly concerning is the fact that Plasmodium falciparum is the deadliest species of its class that spreads malaria in humans through animal or insect bites or stings.
Volunteers for the malaria trial put an arm over a box with hundreds of mosquitoes carrying a genetically modified malaria parasite. Here's why they did it that way — and why the trial holds promise. https://t.co/MMznNKvr7V
— NPR (@NPR) September 21, 2022
Study participants literally place their forearms over a cardboard box containing hundreds of mosquitoes infected with the altered Plasmodium falciparum. The containers had a wire mesh top that allowed the insects to bite but prevented them from escaping. One of the participants told NPR the researchers “literally [used] a Chinese food takeout container.”
Scientists hope one day to release infected mosquitoes to vaccinate unwitting and unwilling humans against the ravages of malaria. However, full vaccination requires multiple bites, and so far, the efficacy rate of this particular vaccine is far less than necessary to protect the population.
It calls to question. What other vaccines could be unleashed on our population without us knowing it’s happening?
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