Evolutionary ideas about genetically manipulated mosquitoes and malaria control

The release of mosquitoes that are genetically manipulated to destroy the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is being considered as a possible method for malaria control. Hopes for this have been raised by the identification of genes involved in the mosquito's immune response and by advances in the tools required to transform mosquitoes. But, will such genes be able to spread in natural populations? What will their impact be on epidemiology of the disease? This article attempts to give some answers to these questions by reviewing some theoretical and empirical considerations underlying the evolutionary epidemiology of genetic manipulation and refractoriness.