In a new population control method developed by Australian researchers, venomous male mosquitoes poison females with their semen.
In this method, males are genetically engineered to produce poisonous spider or sea anemone proteins, which are then injected into females during mating to shorten their lifespans.
Macquarie University researchers are testing their “virulent male technology” in a type of mosquito that transmits dengue, Zika and other viruses, following a successful study with fruit flies. Published in Peer-reviewed journal “Nature Communications”.
Lead author Sam Beach said species-specific approaches could help prevent outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever, which infects 390 million people worldwide each year, by targeting local populations. He said it could be quickly controlled without having to spray large amounts of potentially devastating pesticides. insect.
“Ideally, what we're trying to achieve is that a male mosquito mates with a female mosquito, and then the female mosquito dies quickly,” he says.
Injecting new genes into newly laid mosquito eggs using a tiny glass needle was “a very tedious process,” he added.
Only female mosquitoes suck blood. They typically mate within 24 to 48 hours after emergence, but they can live and continue biting for several weeks, potentially continuing to spread disease.
Studies have shown that this harmful male technique can reduce blood-sucking rates by 40-60%.
While other genetic biological control techniques have used males to reduce the viability, blood-sucking ability, or ability of a mosquito's offspring to transmit disease, Beach said the new method targets females directly. He said he did.
“Using this approach, we can quickly reduce female mosquito populations and, hopefully, rapidly reduce the spread of these vector-borne diseases.”
Dr Tom Schmidt, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Melbourne who was not involved in the study, said pesticide resistance was a global problem, prompting scientists to develop alternative pest management approaches.
“Mosquitoes can quickly develop resistance to insecticides, and the resistance can spread. They can evolve it, and they can spread it around the world on ships and planes.”
He said Australia's approach to infecting mosquitoes with Wolbachia had dramatically reduced dengue transmission in northern Queensland. He noted that mosquito control is not a one-size-fits-all approach, and said genetic approaches may also be effective.
Due to climate change, mosquito species are now appearing in places where they never existed before.
Professor Philip Weinstein, an infectious disease researcher at the University of Adelaide who was not involved in the study, said there were thousands of species of mosquitoes, but only a few could transmit disease.
Weinstein said the ideal solution would be to control the insects without eradicating them, given that mosquitoes are pollinators and an important food source for fish and bats.
“Ecosystem health, not just mosquitoes, but water quality, air quality, climate change, biodiversity loss, everything that happens in the environment directly or indirectly affects human health. '' he said.
