Invasive, disease-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito sterilized with bacteria and eradicated in large-scale trial

In a first for the Southern Hemisphere, researchers have shown a bacteria can successfully sterilize and eradicate the invasive, disease carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito which is responsible for spreading dengue, yellow fever and Zika. The breakthrough could support the suppression and potential eradication of Aedes aegypti worldwide. Published today in PNAS, the landmark trial involved releasing 3 million male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Northern Queensland sterilized with bacteria called Wolbachia. The trial was conducted across three sites over a 20-week period during the summer of 2018. The sterile male insects search out and mate with wild females, preventing the production of offspring.

More related to this:

Releasing incompatible males drives strong suppression across populations of wild and Wolbachiat-carrying Aedes aegypti in Australia

Eradication of screw-worms through release of sterilized males

UCSD Researchers Create Technology To Sterilize Mosquitoes, Reducing Disease

Mosquitoes Sterilized by CRISPR Powered Precision System

Precise single base substitution in the shibire gene by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated homology directed repair in Bactrocera tryoni

Developing gene drive technologies to eradicate invasive rodents from islands