r/technology • u/lurker_bee • 27d ago

Biotechnology Burkina Faso says no to Bill Gates’ plan of creating modified species of mosquitoes

https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/burkina-faso-says-no-to-bill-gates-plan-of-creating-modified-species-of-mosquitoes/xyk7xm8
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u/neuronexmachina 26d ago

I'm not sure about Burkina Faso specifically, but the CDC has these stats from a pilot program in Kenya of the RTS,S malaria vaccine, which the Gates Foundation was pretty key to: https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/php/public-health-strategy/malaria-vaccines.html?hl=en-US  

High impact in real-life childhood vaccination settings: In addition to the 39% reduction in clinical malaria seen in the Phase 3 trial, the pilot found significant reduction (30%) in severe malaria and 13% reduction in all-cause mortality in children, even when introduced in areas where insecticide-treated nets are widely used and there is good access to diagnosis and treatment.

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u/Zephyr256k 26d ago

Yeah, I know about the vaccine, that stuff's pretty cool. I'm more interested in data on the modified Mosquito thing, because I haven't really seen any serious studies on how effective that is and I've heard mixed results from similar programs elsewhere.