Reprogramming Sex for Vector Control: Maleness-Associated Transgenes in Aedes albopictus
Reprogramming Sex for Vector Control: Maleness-Associated Transgenes in Aedes albopictus
Tags: Aedes, CRISPR, Population suppression, Sex distorter, Vector controlDoron Shalom Yishai Zaada, Philippos Aris Papathanos, Eric Marois, Current Opinion in Insect Science, 2025.
Among other challenges, the world currently faces the expansion of pest insects such as the tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus, a growing threat to public health due to the pathogens it can transmit. Current control approaches based on insecticides or elimination of mosquito larval breeding sites are insufficient to suppress this highly invasive species. The discovery of Nix, a gene necessary and sufficient to determine the male sex in this mosquito, opens new prospects for genetic control strategies, in particular those based on transgenes that convert females into males, or that reduce female fitness. Such forms of genetic control could be effective on larger spatial and time scales compared to classical control approaches. This overview of current and emerging genetic control strategies targeting Aedes mosquitoes emphasizes the unique characteristics of Ae. albopictus, that make it particularly amenable to masculinization-based genetic control.
