Bill Gates Donates $4 Million To Create Mosquitoes That Kill Each Other

June 23, 2018

Bill Gates is donating $4 million to create genetically-modified mosquitoes that use sex to destroy their own offspring in a bid to wipe out malaria.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is partnering with mosquito engineering company Oxitec to develop a male mosquito designed to kill off future generations of malaria-transmitting bugs.

Only female mosquitoes bite, so Gates' army of genetically engineered male mosquitoes would be safe to humans.

What's important is that these male mosquitoes contain a self-limiting gene that gets passed onto female mates.

When the females give birth, their offspring will die before adulthood thanks to the gene.

Mosquitoes only start biting people once they're adults, so given enough time, the danger of blood-sucking female mosquitoes could be eradicated.

Oxitec's killer mosquitoes are expected to be ready for trials by the end of 2020.