Company uses engineered mosquitoes to prevent diseases
Company uses engineered mosquitoes to prevent diseases
Tags: Genetic biocontrol, North America, Sterile insect technique (SIT)N. Herzog and D. Niesel, The Daily News, 2021.
It’s amazing how many serious infectious diseases are transmitted by insects like ticks, fleas and mosquitoes. These are called vector-borne diseases, which are responsible for significant human suffering and economic disruption. Mosquitoes are responsible for the spread of many viral diseases including Zika, malaria, West Nile virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus and many others. For the majority of these diseases, we don’t have effective therapeutics or vaccines to treat those that get sick. One approach to control these diseases is to eliminate or reduce the arthropod or insect vector populations using broad spectrum pesticides. These pesticides can cause health problems in humans, and the vectors can become resistant to these chemicals. A new strategy has emerged that involves genetically modifying mosquitoes to disrupt their ability to reproduce. This limits the mosquito population, reducing the possibility of disease spread.
