Houston Chronicle, March 20, 2007 BALTIMORE - Scientists have taken a significant step toward creating genetically modified mosquitoes that could one day wipe malaria from the planet. Tinkering with the genes in mosquitoes, the researchers have created new breeds of the insect that are resistant to malaria, the fourth-leading cause of death in young children worldwide. And for the first time, in a lab at least, they have shown this new type of mosquito can breed and compete more efficiently than natural mosquitoes, suggesting the modified, or transgenic, type could spread in the wild. The scientists, based at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, aren't yet ready to unleash their mosquitoes. But the new study, published in today's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may ease doubts about whether transgenic mosquitoes can survive. Scientists and public health officials have looked toward genetically modified mosquitoes because, with a ban on the pesticide DDT, they have few other options in the developing world for controlling mosquitoes and the diseases they spread.  But he acknowledged that a monumental debate awaits. Genetically modified foods, such as tomatoes and potatoes, are controversial enough. Breeding a new type of mosquito for release probably would ratchet up the debate, said Scott Weaver, director for Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Texas Medical Branch's Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases. "It's very hard to imagine that any government would accept the release of transgenic mosquitoes in their backyard," he said. "The tendency of people is to want to kill mosquitoes, not help them propagate."