Fighting malaria with gene drive mosquitoes

How far are gene drive mosquitoes from a field release against malaria?

Gene drive mosquitoes have been shown to spread and suppress malaria-carrying mosquito populations in closed laboratory cages since 2018. A 2026 study found resistant alleles in the target gene and tested multi-site designs in cages and models. No gene drive has been released into the environment in any source reviewed. In 2025 Burkina Faso's government halted a Target Malaria project after a release of non-gene-drive mosquitoes. Any first field trial would need national biosafety approval, a pre-release risk assessment and a phased trial design, none of which is yet in place.

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WHERE WE AREScience demonstrated

Far away. The science works, but nobody has built a working system yet.

The core effect, a gene drive that spreads and suppresses a mosquito population, has been shown in closed laboratory cages. No gene drive has been released into the environment in any source reviewed, and the field-scale steps (regulatory approval, pre-release risk assessment and phased trials) have not been completed. The 2025 Burkina Faso release used non-gene-drive mosquitoes, so it does not show that a gene drive works outside a cage.

The tech tree

Everything recorded on Vrulum that this future needs, oldest foundations at the top and the goal at the bottom. Lines show what each step requires.

What it takes: Fighting malaria with gene drive mosquitoes Unlocked Being researched Locked
  1. 2018Gene drive mosquitoesResearch and prototypes Being researched.
  1. 2018Gene drive spreads through caged mosquito populationsDone Unlocked.
  2. 2019Non-gene-drive sterile male releases in Burkina FasoDone Unlocked.
  3. 2023Models of gene drive effects on malaria transmissionDone Unlocked.
  4. 2025Non-gene-drive male-biased release in Burkina Faso, then suspensionDone Unlocked.
  5. 2026Resistance and multi-site drives tested in cagesDone Unlocked.
  6. Date not recordedLaboratory, insectary and modelling studies for a gene drive productIn progress Being researched.
  7. Date not recordedNational biosafety and environmental approval for a gene drive releaseNot started Locked.
  8. Date not recordedEnvironmental risk assessment and post-release monitoring planNot started Locked.
  9. Date not recordedFirst small-scale gene drive field releaseNot started Locked.
  10. Date not recordedField trial of effects on malariaNot started Locked.
  1. GoalFighting malaria with gene drive mosquitoesGoalRequires: Gene drive mosquitoes, Gene drive spreads through caged mosquito populations, Models of gene drive effects on malaria transmission, Non-gene-drive sterile male releases in Burkina Faso, Non-gene-drive male-biased release in Burkina Faso, then suspension, Resistance and multi-site drives tested in cages, Laboratory, insectary and modelling studies for a gene drive product, National biosafety and environmental approval for a gene drive release, Environmental risk assessment and post-release monitoring plan, First small-scale gene drive field release, Field trial of effects on malaria. Locked.

The road so far

5 of 10 steps done, 1 in progress.

  1. Done · 24 Sept 2018Gene drive spreads through caged mosquito populations

    Kyrou, Hammond, Galizi and colleagues used a CRISPR-Cas9 gene drive that targets the doublesex gene in Anopheles gambiae. In closed cages it reached 100% prevalence within 7 to 11 generations and collapsed the population. Imperial College London announced the result on 24 September 2018. [1][2]

  2. Done · 10 Jul 2023Models of gene drive effects on malaria transmission

    A 2023 PNAS paper tested dual-effector gene drive strains in An. gambiae and An. coluzzii cages and modelled conceptual island releases. Its optimal simulations estimated malaria incidence falling by 50% to 90%, across sporozoite thresholds of 2.5k to 10k. A 2024 Nature Communications model across sixteen areas of West Africa estimated average vector abundance reductions of 71.6% to 98.4%. Its abstract reports at least 60% more clinical cases averted when gene drives are added to RTS,S vaccination and pyrethroid-PBO bednets. These are simulations, not field results. [5][4]

  3. Done · 1 Jul 2019Non-gene-drive sterile male releases in Burkina Faso

    A 2019 small-scale release in the village of Bana used sterile males of a genetically modified Anopheles line. The published account reports about 6,400 sterile males and about 8,500 non-genetically-modified siblings. It was not a gene drive release. [13]

  4. Done · 11 Aug 2025Non-gene-drive male-biased release in Burkina Faso, then suspension

    Target Malaria reports one small-scale release of non-gene-drive, genetically modified male-biased mosquitoes on 11 August 2025, under national biosafety and environmental permits. National authorities asked the team to suspend all activities on 18 August 2025, and on 22 August the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation announced that it had terminated all Target Malaria activities in the country. Nature Africa reports that facilities were sealed and samples ordered destroyed. Dates are as reported by the project and were not independently verified. [9][10]

  5. Done · 6 Jul 2026Resistance and multi-site drives tested in cages

    Morianou, Phillimore, Crisanti and colleagues stress-tested a single-target gene drive, Ag(QFS)1, and found resistant variants at low frequency. In cages, a resistant allele (R1) prevented the drive from suppressing the population and reversed its spread. Two- and three-target drives transmitted at 98.6% to 100% in cages. The abstract says single-target suppression drives are unlikely to be robust at natural population sizes. The main text says three guide RNAs would likely be sufficient to protect against resistance. Cages do not capture natural ecology. [3]

  6. In progressLaboratory, insectary and modelling studies for a gene drive product

    Lab and insectary studies continue, including in Uganda, where Target Malaria works in a containment insectary. The strain used there lacks gene drive technology. Connolly and colleagues describe Phase 1 of a staged route as laboratory, insectary and modelling studies of safety and efficacy before any field release. [12][6]

  7. Not startedNational biosafety and environmental approval for a gene drive release

    None of the sources reviewed reports an approval for a gene drive release in any African country. Connolly and colleagues say applications must go to national regulators, with ethical, biosafety and environmental oversight and a pre-release environmental risk assessment. Uganda's approvals covered importation and contained-use studies only (Target Malaria, 2024). The WHO testing framework sets standards for developing, testing and regulating genetically modified mosquitoes, but its published description does not mention gene drive. [6][12][7]

  8. Not startedEnvironmental risk assessment and post-release monitoring plan

    An August 2026 editorial by Abram and colleagues recommends collecting baseline data before release, agreeing thresholds of harm and stopping rules with regulators in advance, and monitoring ecological indicators. It says the monitoring plan must be agreed with regulators before any release. It reports no completed gene drive field releases and says field testing is being planned. [11]

  9. Not startedFirst small-scale gene drive field release

    Connolly and colleagues propose small-scale releases first (Phase 2A), to test whether the drive increases in frequency and spreads from release sites. Phase 2B would then measure entomological efficacy. The authors note that for self-sustaining drives a clear split between phases may be impractical, and that field testing could be seen as a spectrum of expanding releases. [6]

  10. Not startedField trial of effects on malaria

    Connolly and colleagues propose Phase 3 open field releases to measure epidemiological efficacy. Trials involving participants would need to follow the Declaration of Helsinki and Good Clinical Practice, with an independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board, and must be registered on a public trials register before enrolment. The authors say WHO prequalification would require evidence of safety, quality, entomological and epidemiological efficacy. [6]

Why it matters

Malaria is spread by female Anopheles mosquitoes. A tool that cut those populations could add to bed nets and treatment in some regions, and it would change how malaria control is planned if it works in the field. A release that goes wrong could spread beyond its target area and be hard to reverse, so the governance and monitoring are as important as the genetics.

What stands in the way

  • No gene drive has been released into the environment. Cage results do not show how wild populations, ecosystems or migration will respond, and Abram and colleagues report no completed field releases.
  • Resistance: a 2026 study found resistant alleles in the target gene, and its models suggest a single-target drive may meet resistance at natural population sizes. Multi-site designs have not been tested in the field.
  • Regulation: each country needs biosafety and environmental approval. Reporting in 2021 described many African regulations as built for plant GMOs, and said Uganda needed regulatory reform before field trials.
  • Public consent: activists quoted in 2021 said Target Malaria's releases in Burkina Faso lacked full informed consent from communities, and this remains a contested point.
  • Political reversal: Burkina Faso's government halted a project that had received national permits. Nature Africa reports that the decision disrupted related malaria research.
  • Spillover: a self-sustaining drive can spread from small release sites. Abram and colleagues say modelling suggests introgression may take months to a few years, depending on release numbers, locations and local mosquito seasonality.

Published forecasts

What others have predicted. These are their estimates, not ours.

WhoForecastTimeframeMade
Professor Andrea Crisanti (Imperial College London)Testing gene drive mosquitoes in the wild was at least five to ten years away, according to his statement in 2018. This is a floor on timing, not a target date, and the year range is derived from that statement. [2]202324 Sept 2018

Signals to watch

  • A national regulator in an African country approving a gene drive release, with a published risk assessment and release conditions.
  • A dossier for a gene drive product submitted to a national regulator.
  • Release sites, trial phases and monitoring thresholds published for a first gene drive trial, in line with a phased design such as the one in Connolly and colleagues (2024).
  • Field sampling that measures drive-resistant alleles in wild Anopheles populations.
  • Published results or a formal close-out from the Burkina Faso and Uganda programmes, including the terms set by regulators.

Sources

  1. peer reviewed paper
    A CRISPR-Cas9 gene drive targeting doublesex causes complete population suppression in caged Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes
    K. Kyrou, A. M. Hammond, R. Galizi et al.. Nature Biotechnology, 24 Sept 2018.
  2. university press release
    Mosquitoes that can carry malaria eliminated in lab experiments
    Hayley Dunning. Imperial College London, 24 Sept 2018.
  3. peer reviewed paper
    Engineering resilient gene drives for sustainable malaria control by predicting, testing and overcoming target site resistance in Anopheles gambiae
    Ioanna Morianou, Lee Phillimore, Bhavin S. Khatri et al.. PLOS Biology, 6 Jul 2026.
  4. peer reviewed paper
    The potential of gene drives in malaria vector species to control malaria in African environments
    P. A. Hancock, A. North, A. W. Leach et al.. Nature Communications, 17 Oct 2024.
  5. peer reviewed paper
    Dual effector population modification gene-drive strains of the African malaria mosquitoes, Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles coluzzii
    R. Carballar-Lejarazú, Y. Dong, T. B. Pham et al.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 10 Jul 2023.
  6. peer reviewed paper
    Considerations for first field trials of low-threshold gene drive for malaria vector control
    John B. Connolly, Austin Burt, George Christophides et al.. Malaria Journal, 22 May 2024.
  7. other
    Guidance framework for testing of genetically modified mosquitoes, second edition
    World Health Organization, 19 May 2021.
  8. news
    African Experts Welcome WHO Guidance On Ethics, Standards, And Governance Of Genetically Modified Mosquito Research
    Esther Nakkazi. Health Policy Watch, 1 Jun 2021.
  9. other
    Target Malaria activities suspended in Burkina Faso
    Target Malaria, 22 Aug 2025.
  10. news
    Mosquito gene drive cancellation disrupts Africa's malaria research
    Esther Nakkazi. GeneConvene Global Collaborative (republishing Nature Africa), 12 Sept 2025.
  11. other
    Considerations for Postrelease Environmental Safety Monitoring of Gene Drive-Modified Mosquitoes as a Tool for Malaria Control in Sub-Saharan Africa
    Paul K. Abram, Jeremy Bouyer, Brinda Dass et al.. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 4 Aug 2026.
  12. other
    Developing innovative genetic technologies for malaria control in Uganda
    Target Malaria, 16 Oct 2024.
  13. peer reviewed paper
    Small-scale release of non-gene drive mosquitoes in Burkina Faso: from engagement implementation to assessment, a learning journey
    Lea Pare Toe, Nourou Barry, Anselme D Ky et al.. Malaria Journal, 2021.

Last reviewed 21 Oct 2026.