Fig. 12.
Pathway 10 Water quality: Potential adverse impact on drinking water in aquatic habitats could be caused by potentially higher mortality of dsxFCRISPRh transgenic larvae. A population suppression gene drive does not a priori have to result in higher mortality during aquatic stages. Therefore, this pathway is plausible without necessarily being likely. Indeed, the net effect from reductions in the density of aquatic stages caused by population suppression gene drive may be to reduce detritus. In addition, many species of the complex, especially An. gambiae s.s., prefer aquatic habitats that contain clean water, are sunlit, lack vegetation and are ephemeral. These habitats are thus unlikely to represent major sources of drinking water, particularly for humans