Flying syringe is a phrase that is used to refer to proposed, but not yet created, genetically modified mosquitoes that inject

vaccines A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified. A vaccine typically contains an ag ...

into

people The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

when they bite them.

History

In the 1990s, Bob Sinden of Imperial College, London, and Julian Crampton of the University of Liverpool, developed this idea and filled three related patents between 1997 and 2003. In 2008, the

Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...

awarded $100,000 to Hiroyuki Matsuoka of Jichi Medical University in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

to do research on them, with a condition that any discoveries that were funded by the grant must be made available at affordable prices in the

developing world A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreeme ...

. If Matsuoka proves that his idea has merit, he will be eligible for an additional $1 million of funding. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' referred to flying syringes as a "bold idea".Flying Syringes and Other Bold Ideas
''The Washington Post'', October 23, 2008 In 2010, Japanese researcher Shigeto Yoshida modified mosquito saliva to deliver leishmania vaccines to mice, noting that vaccination by insect could be painless and cost-effective. Concerns have been raised about this approach, especially in regards to informed consent and medical safety.

References

Vaccination Hypothetical technology Culicidae {{treatment-stub