League Club of Naples awards record $683K in grants to Collier, Lee nonprofitsFriday’s Furry Friends: Holly, Slim
League Club of Naples awards record $683K in grants to Collier, Lee nonprofits At a mid-April breakfast event, the 35 area nonprofit agencies—chosen from a record number of applicants—were awarded grants from the women’s volunteer organization in areas ranging from arts education, to fighting hunger and homelessness, to providing bikes and wheelchairs to children in need
Tim Aten Knows: Chick-fil-A drive-thru proposal faces criticism in Naples Chick-fil-A is proposing a drive-thru restaurant at the site of the former Red Lobster restaurant on U.S. 41 in Naples, but the project is facing early criticism.
NAPLES Friday’s Furry Friends: Holly, Slim For this week’s Friday’s Furry Friends, WINK visits the Collier County Domestic Animal Services to showcase two adorable animals ready to be adopted.
FORT MYERS Caught on Camera: Dust Devil spotted spiraling in Fort Myers A dust devil was spotted and recorded by a WINK News viewer on Hanson Street in Fort Myers.
Warm, dry and breezy afternoon after a comfortable morning The Weather Authority is tracking a comfortable Friday morning start with dry and breezy afternoon conditions expected.
NAPLES Event held in Naples for National Crime Victims Week The City of Naples and Project HELP held an event in Baker Park for National Crime Victims Week.
NAPLES 25-acre brush fire off I-75 in Collier County lowers air quality The Greater Naples Fire Rescue responded to a 25-acre brush fire at Mile Marker 96 on I-75 in the Picayune Strand State Forest.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral softball coach arrested for alleged inappropriate conduct with student released on bond A former Cape Coral volunteer softball coach arrested for alleged sexual contact with a student was released from jail on bond.
FORT MYERS A prom like no other at Golisano Children’s Hospital Logan Stryker may be a little young for high school prom, but he’s the prom king of Golisano Children’s Hospital.
FORT MYERS Group protests death of Christopher Jordan Their messages were aimed at the Fort Myers police department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and State Attorney Amira Fox.
FORT MYERS A least 3 cars involved in crash near Top Golf Way and Challenger Blvd. It happened near Top Golf Way and Challenger Boulevard in Fort Myers.
Hendry County Fired deputy charged with crimes had troubled past in law enforcement A local police officer resigned in lieu of termination after dozens of disciplinary actions against him, so how was he hired at another SWFL law enforcement agency?
New resolution could help fend off FEMA’s threat to pull flood insurance discount Some United States representatives are taking matters into their own hands to help those threatened by more expensive flood insurance.
NAPLES Local group rallies in solidarity with Israel Passover week is an important time for the Jewish community, but hostages are still being held.
From Verot to The Show: Blaze Alexander is living his MLB dream Former Bishop Verot star Blaze Alexander is now living his MLB dream as he got called up to join the Arizona Diamondbacks.
League Club of Naples awards record $683K in grants to Collier, Lee nonprofits At a mid-April breakfast event, the 35 area nonprofit agencies—chosen from a record number of applicants—were awarded grants from the women’s volunteer organization in areas ranging from arts education, to fighting hunger and homelessness, to providing bikes and wheelchairs to children in need
Tim Aten Knows: Chick-fil-A drive-thru proposal faces criticism in Naples Chick-fil-A is proposing a drive-thru restaurant at the site of the former Red Lobster restaurant on U.S. 41 in Naples, but the project is facing early criticism.
NAPLES Friday’s Furry Friends: Holly, Slim For this week’s Friday’s Furry Friends, WINK visits the Collier County Domestic Animal Services to showcase two adorable animals ready to be adopted.
FORT MYERS Caught on Camera: Dust Devil spotted spiraling in Fort Myers A dust devil was spotted and recorded by a WINK News viewer on Hanson Street in Fort Myers.
Warm, dry and breezy afternoon after a comfortable morning The Weather Authority is tracking a comfortable Friday morning start with dry and breezy afternoon conditions expected.
NAPLES Event held in Naples for National Crime Victims Week The City of Naples and Project HELP held an event in Baker Park for National Crime Victims Week.
NAPLES 25-acre brush fire off I-75 in Collier County lowers air quality The Greater Naples Fire Rescue responded to a 25-acre brush fire at Mile Marker 96 on I-75 in the Picayune Strand State Forest.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral softball coach arrested for alleged inappropriate conduct with student released on bond A former Cape Coral volunteer softball coach arrested for alleged sexual contact with a student was released from jail on bond.
FORT MYERS A prom like no other at Golisano Children’s Hospital Logan Stryker may be a little young for high school prom, but he’s the prom king of Golisano Children’s Hospital.
FORT MYERS Group protests death of Christopher Jordan Their messages were aimed at the Fort Myers police department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and State Attorney Amira Fox.
FORT MYERS A least 3 cars involved in crash near Top Golf Way and Challenger Blvd. It happened near Top Golf Way and Challenger Boulevard in Fort Myers.
Hendry County Fired deputy charged with crimes had troubled past in law enforcement A local police officer resigned in lieu of termination after dozens of disciplinary actions against him, so how was he hired at another SWFL law enforcement agency?
New resolution could help fend off FEMA’s threat to pull flood insurance discount Some United States representatives are taking matters into their own hands to help those threatened by more expensive flood insurance.
NAPLES Local group rallies in solidarity with Israel Passover week is an important time for the Jewish community, but hostages are still being held.
From Verot to The Show: Blaze Alexander is living his MLB dream Former Bishop Verot star Blaze Alexander is now living his MLB dream as he got called up to join the Arizona Diamondbacks.
MGN WASHINGTON (AP) – California researchers hatched some malaria-resistant mosquitoes and then gave evolution a shove – using a groundbreaking technology to ensure the insects pass on that protective gene as they reproduce, with implications far beyond the promise of fighting malaria. The experiment reported Monday involves what’s called a “gene drive,” a technique that, if it pans out, promises to alter the genetics of populations of insects and certain plants and animals faster than Mother Nature could. Normally, genes have a 50-50 chance of being inherited. University of California researchers created a strain of mosquitoes that could pass a specially engineered malaria-blocking gene to about 99 percent of their offspring. The mutant mosquitoes, kept in a secured lab, highlight the promise of this technology along with questions about when and how it might be safe to try it in the wild. “This is a major advance because it shows that gene drive interventions will likely be effective in mosquito vectors of disease,” said biologist Kevin Esvelt of Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, a gene drive researcher who wasn’t involved with the newest study. But because no one knows how such rapid genetic change might impact habitats, Esvelt has urged the public to weigh in. The California study published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences adds some urgency. “This work suggests that we’re a hop, skip and jump away from actual gene drive candidates for eventual release” in nature, he said. Malaria kills more than half a million people a year, mostly children in Africa, and sickens about 200 million more. Mosquitoes pick up the parasite by biting an infected person, and spread it when they bite someone else. Mosquito-killing insecticides and bed nets are the main protection. At the University of California-Irvine, molecular biologist Anthony James is developing what he calls “sustainable technologies” – rather than killing mosquitoes, instead rendering them unable to infect people. James engineered immune system genes that could spur a mosquito’s body to develop antibodies to attack the parasite, so that it couldn’t transmit the infection. The new genes worked as intended when injected into the eggs of a particular malaria-spreading mosquito species, Anopheles stephensi. Altered mosquitoes would have to gradually spread their new genes by mating with wild mosquito populations – and the next challenge is how to speed that process quickly enough to make a dent in malaria in any given region. Enter gene drives, a technique that proponents say one day might be used to wipe out invasive species like kudzu or cane toads, or reverse pesticide resistance in weeds, or suppress insect populations. The idea comes from a few examples in nature where certain genes spread disproportionately, and scientists have longed for a way to control that process. Recently they’ve had some success using a powerful new tool named CRISPR-Cas9 that allows precise editing of DNA in living cells, sort of like cut-and-paste software. Earlier this year, University of California, San Diego, biologists Ethan Bier and Valentino Gantz announced a CRISPR-fueled gene drive that worked in fruit flies. For Monday’s study, the San Diego researchers teamed with James – packing the malaria-resistance genes with the CRISPR-based gene drive, boosting chances of inheriting the malaria protection by targeting the change to a specific spot in the mosquito’s reproductive DNA. To measure, they tacked on a fluorescence gene that made mosquitoes’ eyes look red if they harbored the new gene. The malaria protection spread remarkably well, proving the concept even though far more work is needed before this kind of mosquito could be tested in the wild, James said. Among the findings to be addressed was that the transgenic male mosquitoes passed their new trait to the next generation more efficiently than transgenic females did. Gene drive experiments are controversial. One worry is the possibility of altered organisms escaping the laboratory before scientists know how to use them. The California team took safeguards including special lab security and using a mosquito species that can’t survive in California’s climate. Additional questions involve what’s appropriate to try – wiping out a species or just altering it, for example – and how to approach such research in low-income countries. The prestigious National Academy of Sciences is studying ethical issues surrounding gene drive research, and the California team says countries that struggle with mosquito-borne diseases in particular should be involved. “Somebody sitting in the U.S. making up a list of rules has to appreciate that these countries have their own concerns,” James said.