Keywords: aegypti
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Mimicking superinfection exclusion disrupts alphavirus infection and transmission in the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegyptiReitmayer, Christine M. Levitt, Emily Basu, Sanjay Atkinson, Barry Fragkoudis, Rennos Merits, Andres Lumley, Sarah Larner, Will Diaz, Adriana V. Rooney, Sara Thomas, Callum J. E. von Wyschetzki, Katharina Rausalu, Kai Alphey, Luk, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120:e2303080120. 2023.
Multiple viruses, including pathogenic viruses, bacteriophages, and even plant viruses, cause a phenomenon termed superinfection exclusion whereby a currently infected cell is resistant to secondary infection by the same or a closely related virus. In alphaviruses, this process ... |
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Molecular Evidence of Wolbachia Species in Wild-Caught Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes in Four States of Northeast IndiaVinayagam, S. Nirmolia, T. Chetry, S. Kumar, N. P. Saini, P. Bhattacharyya, D. R. Bhowmick, I. P. Sattu, K. Patgiri, S. J., Journal of Tropical Medicine, 2023.
Wolbachia, a Gram-negative intracellular bacterium, naturally infects many arthropods, including mosquito vectors responsible for the spread of arboviral diseases such as Zika, chikungunya, and dengue fever. Certain Wolbachia strains are involved in inhibiting arbovirus ... |
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Jamestown Canyon virus is transmissible by Aedes aegypti and is only moderately blocked by Wolbachia co-infectionM. J. Lau, H. L. C. Dutra, M. J. Jones, B. P. McNulty, A. M. Diaz, F. Ware-Gilmore and E. A. McGraw, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 17. 2023.
Jamestown Canyon virus (JCV), a negative-sense arbovirus, is increasingly common in the upper Midwest of the USA. Transmitted by a range of mosquito genera, JCV's primary amplifying host is white-tailed deer. Aedes aegypti is responsible for transmitting various positive-sense ... |
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Wolbachia wMel strain-mediated effects on dengue virus vertical transmission from Aedes aegypti to their offspringK. Duong Thi Hue, D. da Silva Goncalves, V. Tran Thuy, L. Thi Vo, D. Le Thi, N. Vu Tuyet, G. Nguyen Thi, T. Huynh Thi Xuan, N. Nguyen Minh, P. Nguyen Thanh, S. Yacoub and C. P. Simmons, Parasites and Vectors, 16:308. 2023.
Background Dengue virus serotypes (DENV-1 to -4) can be transmitted vertically in Aedes aegpti mosquitoes. Whether infection with the wMel strain of the endosymbiont Wolbachia can reduce the incidence of vertical transmission of DENV from infected females to their offspring is ... |
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wMel Wolbachia alters female post-mating behaviors and physiology in the dengue vector mosquito Aedes aegyptiJ. Osorio, S. Villa-Arias, C. Camargo, L. F. Ramírez-Sánchez, L. M. Barrientos, C. Bedoya, G. Rúa-Uribe, S. Dorus, C. Alfonso-Parra and F. W. Avila, Communications Biology, 6:865. 2023.
Globally invasive Aedes aegypti disseminate numerous arboviruses that impact human health. One promising method to control Ae. aegypti populations is transinfection with Wolbachia pipientis, which naturally infects ~40–52% of insects but not Ae. aegypti. Transinfection of Ae. ... |
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British super mosquitoes being deployed to wipe out malaria from the planetJ. Lawton, Daily Star, 2023.
The Brit-made mosquitoes are all male and carry a special gene to prevent female offspring from surviving into adulthood.Only females bite and spread malaria. Released into the wild Oxitec’s genetically-modified males mate with wild females. All the female offspring then die. ... |
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EPA Authorized Release Of 2 Billion More GMO MosquitosT. Mateescu, Health Thoroughfare, 2023.
A biotechnology company called Oxitec has produced genetically modified mosquitoes named GE mosquitoes. These mosquitoes are being released in the U.S. for a real-world experiment. Oxitec is using Aedes aegypti (A. aegypti) mosquitoes for this experiment. This species is known to ... |
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Modeling shows emerging mosquito control approach might be largely resistant to warming temperaturesB. Yirka, Phys Org, 2023.
A team of epidemiologists and engineers at the University of California, working with a colleague from QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, in Australia, has found via modeling that the use of the Wolbachia approach to slowing the spread of mosquito-borne diseases (MBDs) is ... |
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Scientists are releasing disease-resistant mosquitoes. But heat waves could kill them.C. Harvey, Politico, 2023.
A new study, published Thursday in the journal Nature Climate Change, suggests that the disease-quashing bugs will likely survive for at least the next couple of decades. Their fate is less certain further into the future. The study focuses on a special insect-borne bacterium ... |
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wMel replacement of dengue-competent mosquitoes is robust to near-term changeV. N. Vásquez, L. M. Kueppers, G. Rašić and J. M. Marshall, Nature Climate Change, 13:848-855. 2023.
Rising temperatures are impacting the range and prevalence of mosquito-borne diseases. A promising biocontrol technology replaces wild mosquitoes with those carrying the virus-blocking Wolbachia bacterium. Because the most widely used strain, wMel, is adversely affected by heat ... |
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Susceptibility of Wolbachia mosquito control to temperature shiftsE. P. Caragata, Nature Climate Change, 13:767-768. 2023.
Vásquez and colleagues consider the potential impacts of increasing and variable temperatures on Wolbachia-based population-replacement interventions. Previous laboratory experiments have highlighted the temperature-sensitive nature of Wolbachia, with high average daily ... |
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New Study Improves Sterile Insect Technique for MosquitoesE. Ricciuti, Entomology Today, 2023.
As Florida health authorities work to respond to an ever-growing cadre of invasive tropical mosquitoes, a research team has sharpened an environmentally friendly tool increasingly deployed against a dangerous species that invaded the state two centuries ago. The mosquito is Aedes ... |
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Estimating mosquito abundance and population suppression in an incompatible insect technique studyL. Griffin, D. Pagendam, C. Drovandi, B. Trewin and N. W. Beebe, Journal of Applied Ecology, 2023.
Our model can provide valuable insights that can shape decision support systems in sterile insect technique and incompatible insect technique programmes operating over large geographical scales. The model helps determine how many sterile/incompatible insects should be released ... |
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Nuclear Technique Used in Europe for First time to Battle Yellow Fever Mosquito Found in CyprusIAEA, IAEA, 2023.
Cyprus this month released the first batch of 100,000 sterile mosquitos to begin the implementation of a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) project testing the use of a nuclear technique to eradicate an invasive species of ... |
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Developing methods for chilling, compacting, and sterilizing adult Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) and comparing mating competitiveness between males sterilized as adults versus pupae for sterile male releaseD. A. Tussey, R. Morreale, D. O. Carvalho, S. Stenhouse, A. M. Lloyd, D. F. Hoel and D. A. Hahn, Journal of Medical Entomology, 2023.
The yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti L., can transmit several pathogens responsible for human diseases. With insecticide resistance development becoming a concern, alternative control strategies are needed for Ae. aegypti. Sterile insect technique (SIT) is an increasingly ... |
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CRISPR-based gene editing of non-homologous end joining factors biases DNA repair pathway choice toward single-strand annealing in Aedes aegyptiK. Chae, J. M. Overcash, C. Dawson, C. Valentin, H. Tsujimoto, K. M. Myles and Z. N. Adelman, Current Research in Biotechnology, 5:100133. 2023.
To maintain genome stability, eukaryotic cells orchestrate DNA repair pathways to process DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) that result from diverse developmental or environmental stimuli. Bias in the selection of DSB repair pathways, either non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) or ... |
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Targeting Sex Determination to Suppress Mosquito PopulationsL. Ming, P. K. Nikolay, S. Ruichen, Y. Ting, D. B. Elena, J. B. Daniel, A. Igor, M. S. C. Hector, Z. Yinpeng, A. D. Nicolas, M. L. YuMin, P. S. Matthew, M. Craig, M. M. John and S. A. Omar, bioRxiv, 2023.04.18.537404. 2023.
Each year, hundreds of millions of people are infected with arboviruses such as dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, and Zika, which are all primarily spread by the notorious mosquito Aedes aegypti. Traditional control measures have proven insufficient, necessitating innovations. ... |
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Massive mosquito factory in Brazil aims to halt dengueM. Lenharo, Nature, 2023.
The non-profit World Mosquito Program (WMP) has announced that it will release modified mosquitoes in many of Brazil’s urban areas over the next 10 years, with the aim of protecting up to 70 million people from diseases such as dengue. Researchers have tested the release of ... |
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Dengue Exposure and Wolbachia wMel Strain Affects the Fertility of Quiescent Eggs of Aedes aegyptiM. T. Petersen, D. Couto-Lima, G. A. Garcia, M. G. Pavan, M. R. David and R. Maciel-de-Freitas, Viruses, 15. 2023.
(1) Background: The deployment of the bacterium Wolbachia to reduce arbovirus transmission is ongoing in several countries worldwide. When Wolbachia-carrying Aedes aegypti are released and established in the field, females may feed on dengue-infected hosts. The effects of ... |
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Spatial Distribution and Long-Term Persistence of Wolbachia-Infected Aedes aegypti in the Mentari Court, MalaysiaY. L. Cheong, W. A. Nazni, H. L. Lee, A. NoorAfizah, I. C. MohdKhairuddin, G. M. R. Kamarul, N. M. N. Nizam, M. A. K. Arif, Z. M. NurZatilAqmar, S. M. Irwan, K. Khadijah, Y. M. Paid, O. Topek, A. H. Hasnor, R. AbuBakar, B. Singh Gill, K. Fadzilah, A. Tahi, Insects, 14. 2023.
Dengue is endemic in Malaysia, and vector control strategies are vital to reduce dengue transmission. The Wolbachia strain wAlbB carried by both sexes of Ae. aegypti was released in Mentari Court, a high-rise residential site, in October 2017 and stopped after 20 weeks. Wolbachia ... |
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DIPA-CRISPR gene editing in the yellow fever mosquito <em>Aedes aegypti</em> (Diptera: Culicidae)S. Yu, T. Momoyo, O. Manabu, K. Hirotaka and D. Takaaki, bioRxiv, 2023.04.07.535996. 2023.
Current methods for gene editing in insects rely on embryonic microinjection, which can be challenging for non-specialist laboratories. Recently, an alternative method known as direct parental CRISPR (DIPA-CRISPR) was developed. This method involves injecting commercial Cas9 ... |
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Groundbreaking Partnership to Combat Dengue Mosquito in the Republic of the Marshall Islands Will Deploy Oxitec Friendly™ Aedes aegypti SolutionOxitec, Oxitec.com, 2023.
The Republic of the Marshall Islands has selected Oxitec’s Friendly™ Aedes aegypti solution for a new pilot intervention to control the disease-spreading invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito. The project is a partnership between the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Pacific ... |
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Enhancing the scalability of Wolbachia-based vector-borne disease management: time and temperature limits for storage and transport of Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti eggs for field releasesM. J. Allman, Y. H. Lin, D. A. Joubert, J. Addley-Cook, M. C. Mejía-Torres, C. P. Simmons, H. A. Flores and J. E. Fraser, Parasit Vectors, 16:108. 2023.
BACKGROUND: Introgression of the bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia into Aedes aegypti populations is a biocontrol approach being used to reduce arbovirus transmission. This requires mass release of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes. While releases have been conducted using a variety ... |
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The sex pheromone heptacosane enhances the mating competitiveness of sterile Aedes aegypti malesL.-M. Wang, N. Li, M. Zhang, Q. Tang, H.-Z. Lu, Q.-Y. Zhou, J.-X. Niu, L. Xiao, Z.-Y. Peng, C. Zhang, M. Liu, D.-Q. Wang and S.-Q. Deng, Parasites and Vectors, 16:102. 2023.
Aedes aegypti is a vector that transmits various viral diseases, including dengue and Zika. The radiation-based sterile insect technique (SIT) has a limited effect on mosquito control because of the difficulty in irradiating males without reducing their mating competitiveness. In ... |
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RNA interference is essential to modulating the pathogenesis of mosquito-borne viruses in the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegyptiG. H. Samuel, T. Pohlenz, Y. Dong, N. Coskun, Z. N. Adelman, G. Dimopoulos and K. M. Myles, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120:e2213701120. 2023.
While it has long been known that the transmission of mosquito-borne viruses depends on the establishment of persistent and nonlethal infections in the invertebrate host, specific roles for the insects? antiviral immune pathways in modulating the pathogenesis of viral infections ... |
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Scientists disable protective gene in mosquitoes, making them susceptible to diseaseTexas A&M University, Phys Org, 2023.
Immune pathways that protect mosquitoes from human pathogens, including West Nile, Zika and dengue viruses were disabled by Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists. The research study, "RNA interference is essential to modulating the pathogenesis of mosquito-borne viruses in the ... |
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A Zika virus-responsive sensor-effector system in Aedes aegyptiS. Basu, C. M. Reitmayer, S. Lumley, B. Atkinson, M. L. Schade-Weskott, S. Rooney, W. Larner, E. E. Montiel, R. Gutierrez-Lopez, E. Levitt, H. M. Munyanduki, A. M. E. Elrefaey, A. T. Clarke, S. Koit, E. Zusinaite, R. Fragkoudis, A. Merits and L. Alphey, bioRxiv, 2023.02.06.527261. 2023.
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a recently re-emerged flavivirus transmitted primarily through the bite of an infected mosquito, Aedes aegypti being the main vector. ZIKV infection is associated with a range of adverse effects; infection during pregnancy can lead to foetal abnormalities, ... |
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Closing the gap to effective gene drive in Aedes aegypti by exploiting germline regulatory elementsM. A. E. Anderson, E. Gonzalez, J. X. D. Ang, L. Shackleford, K. Nevard, S. A. N. Verkuijl, M. P. Edgington, T. Harvey-Samuel and L. Alphey, Nature Communications, 14:338. 2023.
CRISPR/Cas9-based homing gene drives have emerged as a potential new approach to mosquito control. While attempts have been made to develop such systems in Aedes aegypti, none have been able to match the high drive efficiency observed in Anopheles species. Here we generate Ae. ... |
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Wolbachia RNase HI contributes to virus blocking in the mosquito Aedes aegyptiM. Hussain, G. Zhang, M. Leitner, L. M. Hedges and S. Asgari, iScience, 26:105836. 2023.
The endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia pipientis blocks replication of several arboviruses in transinfected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. However, the mechanism of virus blocking remains poorly understood. Here, we characterized an RNase HI gene from Wolbachia, which is rapidly ... |
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Effects of gamma radiation on the vector competence of Aedes aegypti (diptera: Culicidae) to transmit Zika virusE. B. da Silva, C. M. de Mendonça, D. R. D. Guedes, M. H. S. Paiva, J. d. A. Mendonça, E. S. F. Dias, S. G. L. Florêncio, A. Amaral, A. M. Netto, C. F. J. A. Lopes and M. A. V. de Melo-Santos, Acta Tropica, 239:106831. 2023.
One of the limitations of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), conventionally performed by ionizing radiation, regards separating males from females, which is not 100% effective. Some irradiated females may be released together with males in the field at SIT. The present study ... |
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Assessing the efficacy of male Wolbachia-infected mosquito deployments to reduce dengue incidence in Singapore: study protocol for a cluster-randomized controlled trialJ. Ong, S. H. Ho, S. X. H. Soh, Y. Wong, Y. Ng, K. Vasquez, Y. L. Lai, Y. X. Setoh, C. S. Chong, V. Lee, J. C. C. Wong, C. H. Tan, S. Sim, L. C. Ng and J. T. Lim, Trials, 23:1023. 2022.
The study is designed as a parallel, two-arm, non-blinded cluster-randomized (CR) controlled trial to be conducted in high-rise public housing estates in Singapore, an equatorial city-state. The aim is to determine whether large-scale deployment of male Wolbachia-infected Ae. ... |
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Good news in the fight against vector-borne diseasesK. Magori, , 2022.
At the turn of the century, several research groups attempted to apply modern genetic methodologies to achieve similar outcomes without the need for irradiation and the resulting fitness costs. Luke Alphey and his colleagues at Oxford University developed a dominant lethal ... |
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Oxitec’s mosquitoes are getting “friendly” with CaliforniaL. Patrick, The Sun Gazette, 2022.
Biotech company Oxitec is buzzing around Visalia, with the hopes of releasing their genetically engineered mosquitoes in Tulare County. Oxitec has one more hurdle to jump over in order to release their “friendly” Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Tulare County, and that’s to gain ... |
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Does severe hypoxia during irradiation of Aedes aegypti pupae improve sterile male performance?D. A. Tussey, K. J. Linthicum and D. A. Hahn, Parasites and Vectors, 15:446. 2022.
The yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, vectors several pathogens responsible for human diseases. As a result, this mosquito species is a priority for control by mosquito control districts in Florida. With insecticide resistance development becoming a concern, alternative ... |
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Independent evaluation of Wolbachia infected male mosquito releases for control of Aedes aegypti in Harris County, Texas, using a Bayesian abundance estimatorS. Lozano, K. Pritts, D. Duguma, C. Fredregill and R. Connelly, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 16:e0010907. 2022.
Among disease vectors, Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) is one of the most insidious species in the world. The disease burden created by this species has dramatically increased in the past 50 years, and during this time countries have relied on pesticides for control and ... |
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Independent evaluation of Wolbachia infected male mosquito releases for control of Aedes aegypti in Harris County, Texas, using a Bayesian abundance estimatorS. Lozano, K. Pritts, D. Duguma, C. Fredregill and R. Connelly, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 16:e0010907. 2022.
Author summary Aedes aegypti is one of the most important mosquito species because females can potentially carry pathogens that cause disease. These diseases have a tremendous impact worldwide making this species an important target of control. We evaluated a mosquito control ... |
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Influence of public hesitancy and receptivity on reactive behaviours towards releases of male Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes for dengue controlM. O. Lwin, Z. Ong, C. Panchapakesan, A. Sheldenkar, L. T. Soh, I. Chen, X. Li, W. Niah, K. Vasquez, S. Sim and L.-C. Ng, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 16:e0010910. 2022.
Singapore, a highly urbanized Asian tropical country that experiences periodic dengue outbreaks, is piloting field releases of male Wolbachia-carrying Aedes aegyptimosquitoes with the aim of suppressing urban populations of the primary dengue vector Aedes aegypti. This study ... |
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Wolbachia inhibits ovarian formation and increases blood feeding rate in female Aedes aegyptiM.-J. Lau, P. A. Ross, N. M. Endersby-Harshman, Q. Yang and A. A. Hoffmann, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 16:e0010913. 2022.
Author summary Wolbachia bacteria reduce the transmission of dengue and other arboviruses transmitted by their mosquito hosts once they have invaded host populations. This invasion process is being undertaken in Aedes aegypti mosquito populations throughout the world but can be ... |
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A sterile insect technique pilot trial on Captiva Island: defining mosquito population parameters for sterile male releases using mark–release–recaptureD. O. Carvalho, R. Morreale, S. Stenhouse, D. A. Hahn, M. Gomez, A. Lloyd and D. Hoel, Parasites and Vectors, 15:405. 2022.
The sterile insect technique (SIT), which involves area-wide inundative releases of sterile insects to suppress the reproduction of a target species, has proven to be an effective pest control method. The technique demands the continuous release of sterilized insects in ... |
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New self-sexing Aedes aegypti strain eliminates barriers to scalable and sustainable vector control for governments and communities in dengue-prone environmentsS. A. M. Spinner, Z. H. Barnes, A. M. Puinean, P. Gray, T. Dafa’alla, C. E. Phillips, C. Nascimento de Souza, T. F. Frazon, K. Ercit, A. Collado, N. Naish, E. Sulston, G. C. Ll. Phillips, K. K. Greene, M. Poletto, B. D. Sperry, S. A. Warner, N. R. Rose, G, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 10. 2022.
For more than 60 years, efforts to develop mating-based mosquito control technologies have largely failed to produce solutions that are both effective and scalable, keeping them out of reach of most governments and communities in disease-impacted regions globally. High pest ... |
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Assessing single-locus CRISPR/Cas9-based gene drive variants in the mosquito Aedes aegypti via single generation crosses and modelingW. Reid, A. E. Williams, I. Sanchez-Vargas, J. Lin, R. Juncu, K. E. Olson and A. W. E. Franz, G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics, 2022.
Critical to the design of a single-locus autonomous GD is that the selected genomic locus is amenable to both GD and appropriate expression of the antiviral effector. In our study, we used reverse engineering to target two intergenic genomic loci, which had previously shown to be ... |
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Wolbachia Biology, Mechanisms and Applications 2022David O'Brochta, GeneConvene Global Collaborative, 2022.
Intracellular and extracellular symbiotic/commensal bacteria have enormous potential when manipulated and deployed appropriately to serve as agents of control of insects and the pathogens they transmit. Wolbachia, an intracellular bacteria, is a well studied system and one that ... |
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Wolbachia wAlbB inhibit dengue and Zika infection in the mosquito Aedes aegypti with an Australian backgroundL. E. Hugo, G. Rašić, A. J. Maynard, L. Ambrose, C. Liddington, C. J. E. Thomas, N. S. Nath, M. Graham, C. Winterford, B. M. C. R. Wimalasiri-Yapa, Z. Xi, N. W. Beebe and G. J. Devine, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 16:e0010786. 2022.
Biological control of mosquito vectors using the endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia is an emerging strategy for the management of human arboviral diseases. We recently described the development of a strain of Aedes aegypti infected with the Wolbachia strain wAlbB (referred to as ... |
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Risk Assessment on the Release of Wolbachia-Infected Aedes aegypti in Yogyakarta, IndonesiaD. Buchori, A. Mawan, I. Nurhayati, A. Aryati, H. Kusnanto and U. K. Hadi, Insects, 13. 2022.
Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti is the latest technology that was developed to eliminate dengue fever. The Ministry of Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemenristekdikti) established an expert group to identify future potential risks that may occur over a ... |
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Fitness costs of Wolbachia shift in locally-adapted Aedes aegypti mosquitoesP. A. Ross and A. A. Hoffmann, Environmental Microbiology, 2022.
Aedes aegypti mosquito eggs can remain quiescent for many months before hatching, allowing populations to persist through unfavorable conditions. Aedes aegypti infected with the Wolbachia strain wMel have been released in tropical and subtropical regions for dengue control. wMel ... |
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Externalities modulate the effectiveness of the Wolbachia release programmeE. E. Ooi and A. Wilder-Smith, The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2022.
Despite the remarkable outcome in Yogyakarta, the wMel approach also has some challenges. In particular, the extent to which ecological, weather, and other external factors influence the dissemination and establishment of wMel in complex urban environments remains unclear. ... |
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Estimating the effect of the wMel release programme on the incidence of dengue and chikungunya in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: a spatiotemporal modelling studyG. Ribeiro dos Santos, B. Durovni, V. Saraceni, T. I. Souza Riback, S. B. Pinto, K. L. Anders, et al., The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2022.
Summary Background Introgression of genetic material from species of the insect bacteria Wolbachia into populations of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes has been shown in randomised and non-randomised trials to reduce the incidence of dengue; however, evidence for the real-world ... |
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The Involvement of Atlastin in Dengue Virus and Wolbachia Infection in Aedes aegypti and Its Regulation by aae-miR-989M. Hussain, T. Bradshaw, M. Lee and S. Asgari, Microbiology Spectrum, 2022.
Endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-shaping atlastin proteins (ATLs) have been demonstrated to play a functional role during flavivirus replication in mammalian cells. For dengue virus (DENV), atlastin is required in the formation of the replication organelles and RNA replication, virion ... |
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Analysis of Aedes aegypti microRNAs in response to Wolbachia wAlbB infection and their potential role in mosquito longevityC. Bishop, M. Hussain, L. E. Hugo and S. Asgari, Scientific Reports, 12:15245. 2022.
The mosquito Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of a range of medically important viruses including dengue, Zika, West Nile, yellow fever, and chikungunya viruses. The endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia pipientis wAlbB strain is a promising biocontrol agent for blocking viral ... |
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Modified mosquito releases to fight dengue fever, chikungunya or yellow feverSewell, Tammy, OICANADIAN, 2022.
To date, only one technique based on genetically modified mosquitoes has been developed at an operational level, it is the RIDL technique (release of insects carrying a dominant lethal gene, or release of insects carrying a dominant lethality gene). Male mosquitoes which, unlike ... |
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Call for public consultation ̶ Development of Target Product Profiles (TPPs) for Wolbachia infected Aedes aegypti population replacement interventionWorld Health Organization, WHO, 2022.
WHO aims to reduce the global burden of dengue by 25% by 2030. To reach this goal, it is imperative to provide control programmes with sustainable vector control tools. Wolbachia, a symbiotic bacterium that occurs naturally in many insects, has been successfully transferred into ... |
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World Mosquito Day: Can genetic modification techniques quash the menace?CNBCTV18, CNBC TV18, 2022.
Genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes are prepared in labs and are supposed to fight the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes which spread viruses including dengue, Zika, and chikungunya. Billions have apparently been successfully released in the US, Brazil, the Cayman Islands, Panama, and ... |
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A multiplexed, confinable CRISPR/Cas9 gene drive propagates in caged Aedes aegypti populationsM. A. E. Anderson, E. Gonzalez, M. P. Edgington, J. X. D. Ang, D.-K. Purusothaman, L. Shackleford, K. Nevard, S. A. N. Verkuijl, T. Harvey-Samuel, P. T. Leftwich, K. Esvelt and L. Alphey, bioRxiv, 2022.08.12.503466. 2022.
Here, we test the regulatory sequences from the Ae. aegypti benign gonial cell neoplasm (bgcn) homolog to express Cas9 in the germline to find an expression timing more conducive to homing. We also created a separate multiplexing (targeting multiple different sites within the ... |
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Changing mosquito genes, spreading bacteria: Science sees success vs dengueC. E. Baclig, INQUIRER.NET, 2022.
Wolbachia, according to WMP, are extremely common bacteria that occur naturally in 50 percent of insect species, including mosquitoes, fruit flies, moths, dragonflies, and butterflies. Aedes aegypti or dengue-carrying mosquitoes, however, do not normally carry Wolbachia. Studies ... |
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Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus microbiome/virome: new strategies for controlling arboviral transmission?M. Gómez, D. Martinez, M. Muñoz and J. D. Ramírez, Parasites and Vectors, 15:287. 2022.
Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are the main vectors of highly pathogenic viruses for humans, such as dengue (DENV), chikungunya (CHIKV), and Zika (ZIKV), which cause febrile, hemorrhagic, and neurological diseases and remain a major threat to global public health. The high ... |
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The AalNix3&4 isoform is required and sufficient to convert Aedes albopictus females into malesY. Zhao, B. Jin, P. Liu, X. Xiao, L. Cai, Z. Xie, L. Kong, T. Liu, W. Yang, Y. Wu, J. Gu, Z. Tu, A. A. James and X.-G. Chen, PLOS Genetics, 18:e1010280. 2022.
Author summary Nix serves as a conserved male-determining factor in the two most important mosquito arboviral vectors, Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus. AaeNix alone can convert Ae. aegypti females into fertile but flightless males. AalNix has four alternative splice isoforms ... |
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Establishment of Wolbachia infection in Aedes aegypti from Pakistan via embryonic microinjection and semi-field evaluation of general fitness of resultant mosquito populationM. S. Sarwar, N. Jahan, A. Ali, H. K. Yousaf and I. Munzoor, Parasites and Vectors, 15:191. 2022.
BACKGROUND: Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease that is mainly spread by Aedes aegypti. It is prevalent on five continents, predominantly in tropical and sub-tropical zones across the world. Wolbachia bacteria have been extensively used in vector control strategies ... |
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Reply to: Assessing the efficiency of Verily’s automated process for production and release of male Wolbachia-infected mosquitoesJ. E. Crawford, K. C. Hopkins, A. Buchman, T. Zha, P. Howell, E. Kakani, J. R. Ohm, N. Snoad, L. Upson, J. Holeman, P. Massaro, S. L. Dobson, F. S. Mulligan and B. J. White, Nature Biotechnology, 2022.
We appreciate the comments from Bouyer et al. under their mandate as a United Nations agency program (‘to promote the safe and appropriate use of nuclear techniques and related technologies in food and agriculture’) on our paper1 . The centuries-old fight against ... |
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Assessing the efficiency of Verily’s automated process for production and release of male Wolbachia-infected mosquitoesJ. Bouyer, H. Maiga and M. J. B. Vreysen, Nature Biotechnology, 2022.
A paper by Crawford et al.1 titled ‘Efficient production of male Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes enables large-scale suppression of wild populations’ reports a mosquito control suppression trial carried out from2017 to 2018 in Fresco Country, California, USA1 . ... |
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Elimination of a closed population of the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, through releases of self-limiting male mosquitoesP. B. Patil, S. K. Dasgupta, K. Gorman, A. Pickl-Herk, M. Puinean, A. McKemey, B. Char, U. B. Zehr and S. R. Barwale, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 16:e0010315. 2022.
Author summary Aedes aegypti L. species is the primary vector responsible for transmission of the dengue virus worldwide including chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika virus. The experiment presented in the manuscript represents a study undertaken to demonstrate suppression of the ... |
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Mosquitoes Genetically Modified to Stop Disease Pass Early TestL. Rapaport, WebMD, 2022.
Genetically modified mosquitoes released in the U.S. appear to have passed an early test that suggests they might one day help reduce the population of insects that transmit infectious diseases. As part of the test, scientists released nearly 5 million genetically engineered ... |
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Setting the world’s deadliest animal to self-destructA. Ossola, QUARTZ, 2022.
The mosquitoes are coming - and the, hopefully, they're going. This wee, British biotech company Oxitec plans to kick off a months-long experiment in which it will release billions of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in California and Florida. But these aren't just any mosquitoes - ... |
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Genetically Modified Mosquitoes May Protect The World From DiseaseJ. R. Learn, DISCOVER, 2022.
Forget lions, hippos or venomous spiders. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes may be among the deadliest wildlife in the world. Their bite is relatively harmless in normal circumstances. But many of these mosquitoes carry diseases they transmit from the blood of one host to another, ... |
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Engineering a self-eliminating transgene in the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegyptiK. Chae, C. Dawson, C. Valentin, B. Contreras, J. Zapletal, K. M. Myles and Z. N. Adelman, PNAS Nexus, 2022.
Promising genetics-based approaches are being developed to reduce or prevent the transmission of mosquito-vectored diseases. Less clear is how such transgenes can be removed from the environment, a concern that is particularly relevant for highly invasive gene drive transgenes. ... |
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Pilot trial using mass field-releases of sterile males produced with the incompatible and sterile insect techniques as part of integrated Aedes aegypti control in MexicoA. Martín-Park, A. Che-Mendoza, Y. Contreras-Perera, S. Pérez-Carrillo, H. Puerta-Guardo, J. Villegas-Chim, G. Guillermo-May, A. Medina-Barreiro, H. Delfín-González, R. Méndez-Vales, S. Vázquez-Narvaez, J. Palacio-Vargas, F. Correa-Morales, G. Ayora-Tal, PLoS Negl Trop Dis, 16:e0010324. 2022.
We implemented a controlled before-and-after quasi-experimental study in two suburban localities of Yucatan (Mexico): San Pedro Chimay (SPC), which received IIT-SIT, and San Antonio Tahdzibichén used as control. Release of wAlbB Ae. aegypti males at SPC extended for 6 months ... |
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A metapopulation approach to identify targets for Wolbachia-based dengue controlA. Reyna-Lara, D. Soriano-Paños, J. H. Arias-Castro, H. J. Martínez and J. Gómez-Gardeñes, Chaos, 32:041105. 2022.
Over the last decade, the release of Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti into the natural habitat of this mosquito species has become the most sustainable and long-lasting technique to prevent and control vector-borne diseases, such as dengue, zika, or chikungunya. However, the ... |
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Environmental factors influence the local establishment of Wolbachia in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in two small communities in central Vietnam [version 2]N. T. Hien, D. D. Anh, N. H. Le, N. T. Yen, T. V. Phong, V. S. Nam, T. N. Duong, N. B. Nguyen, D. T. T. Huong, L. Q. Hung, C. N. T. Trinh, N. V. Hoang, V. Q. Mai, L. T. Nghia, N. T. Dong, L. H. Tho, S. Kutcher, T. P. Hurst, J. L. Montgomery, M. Woolfit, E, Gates Open Research, 5:147. 2022.
Background: The wMel strain of Wolbachia has been successfully introduced into Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and subsequently shown to reduce transmission of dengue and other pathogens, under both laboratory and field conditions. Here we describe the entomological outcomes of wMel ... |
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Potential Adverse Effects of GE Mosquitoes UnknownB. Giuffre, The Epoch Times, 2022.
“Safe and sustainable.” That’s what Oxitec, a British biological pest control company, calls its genetically modified (GM) or genetically engineered (GE) mosquito pesticide product. The company claims its product is nontoxic to humans and animals and won’t harm beneficial ... |
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Comparison of Ground Release and Drone-Mediated Aerial Release of Aedes aegypti Sterile Males in Southern Mexico: Efficacy and ChallengesC. F. Marina, P. Liedo, J. G. Bond, A. R. Osorio, J. Valle, R. Angulo-Kladt, Y. Gómez-Simuta, I. Fernández-Salas, A. Dor and T. Williams, Insects, 13. 2022.
Sterile males of Aedes aegypti were released once a week for 8 weeks to evaluate the dispersal efficiency of ground and aerial drone release methods in a rural village of 26 Ha in southern Mexico. Indoor and outdoor BG-Sentinel traps were placed in 13–16 houses distributed ... |
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Genetic Stability and Fitness of Aedes aegypti Red-Eye Genetic Sexing Strains With Pakistani Genomic Background for Sterile Insect Technique ApplicationsM. Misbah-ul-Haq, D. O. Carvalho, L. D. de la Fuente, A. A. Augustinos and K. Bourtzis, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 10. 2022.
The mosquito species Aedes aegypti is the primary transmitter of viruses that cause endemic diseases like dengue in Pakistan. It is also a cause of other vector-borne diseases like yellow fever, Zika fever, and chikungunya, which significantly impact human health worldwide. In ... |
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Combining two Genetic Sexing Strains allows sorting of non-transgenic males for Aedes genetic controlC. Lutrat, M. Burckbuchler, R. P. Olmo, R. Beugnon, A. Fontaine, T. Baldet, J. Bouyer and E. Marois, bioRxiv, 2022.03.11.483912. 2022.
Chemical control of the mosquito vectors Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti is costly, unsustainable, and increasingly ineffective due to the spread of insecticide resistance. The Sterile Insect Technique is an autocidal control tactic that represents a valuable alternative but ... |
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GMO mosquitoes set for release in California to quell diseaseM. Renda, Courthouse News Service, 2022.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved the experimental use of genetically engineered mosquitoes in California and Florida to reduce the populations of invasive mosquitoes that carry a host of infectious diseases like Zika and dengue fever. “With mosquito and ... |
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EVITA Dengue: a cluster-randomized controlled trial to EValuate the efficacy of Wolbachia-InfecTed Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in reducing the incidence of Arboviral infection in BrazilM. H. Collins, G. E. Potter, M. D. T. Hitchings, E. Butler, M. Wiles, J. K. Kennedy, S. B. Pinto, A. B. M. Teixeira, A. Casanovas-Massana, N. G. Rouphael, G. A. Deye, C. P. Simmons, L. A. Moreira, M. L. Nogueira, D. A. T. Cummings, A. I. Ko, M. M. Teixeir, Trials, 23:185. 2022.
BACKGROUND: Arboviruses transmitted by Aedes aegypti including dengue, Zika, and chikungunya are a major global health problem, with over 2.5 billion at risk for dengue alone. There are no licensed antivirals for these infections, and safe and effective vaccines are not yet ... |
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Adult mosquito predation and potential impact on the sterile insect techniqueN. S. Bimbilé Somda, H. Maïga, W. Mamai, T. Bakhoum, T. Wallner, S. B. Poda, H. Yamada and J. Bouyer, Scientific Reports, 12:2561. 2022.
The sterile insect technique is a promising environmentally friendly method for mosquito control. This technique involves releasing laboratory-produced sterile males into a target field site, and its effectiveness may be affected by the extent of adult mosquito predation. Sterile ... |
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Assessing Aedes aegypti candidate genes during viral infection and Wolbachia-mediated pathogen blockingL. T. Sigle, M. Jones, M. Novelo, S. A. Ford, N. Urakova, K. Lymperopoulos, R. T. Sayre, Z. Xi, J. L. Rasgon and E. A. McGraw, Insect Molecular Biology, 2022.
Abstract One approach to control dengue virus transmission is the symbiont Wolbachia, that limits viral infection in mosquitoes. Despite plans for its widespread use in Aedes aegypti, Wolbachia's mode of action remains poorly understood. Many studies suggest that the mechanism is ... |
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A flavivirus-inducible gene expression system that modulates broad-spectrum antiviral activity against dengue and Zika virusesS.-C. Weng, Y.-X. Zhou and S.-H. Shiao, Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 142:103723. 2022.
Incidence of dengue virus (DENV) and Zika virus (ZIKV), two mosquito-borne flaviviruses, is increasing in large parts of the world. Vaccination and medication for these diseases are unsatisfactory. Here, we developed a novel antiviral approach, using a virus-inducible gene ... |
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Could Sterile Aedes albopictus Male Releases Interfere with Aedes aegypti Population in Reunion Island?H. F. Andrianjakarivony, D. Damiens, L. Marquereau, B. Gaudillat, N. Habchi-Hanriot and L.-C. Gouagna, Insects, 13. 2022.
In Reunion Island, the feasibility of an Aedes albopictus control program using the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is studied. Because, in some regions, Ae. albopictus is living in sympatry with Aedes aegypti, the impact of releasing millions of sterile male Ae. albopictus on ... |
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Effects of Sterile Males and Fertility of Infected Mosquitoes on Mosquito-Borne Disease DynamicsX. L. Sun, S. Q. Liu, Y. F. Lv and Y. Z. Pei, Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 84:33. 2022.
By studying an infection-age structured model, we consider the effects of releasing sterile males and the fertility of infected mosquitoes on the mosquito-borne diseases transmission including the extinction of mosquitoes, the elimination and persistence of diseases. Firstly, ... |
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The prince, the mayor, and the U.S. fish that ate JapanC. Elliot, National Geographic, 2022.
When Crown Prince Akihito visited Chicago on October 3, 1960, his sole request was to visit Shedd Aquarium. Then Mayor Richard J. Daley, an avid angler, presented the prince with a gift that he scooped with a net from one of the tanks himself: 18 bluegills, the official Illinois ... |
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Introgression of the Aedes aegypti red-eye genetic sexing strains into different genomic backgrounds for sterile insect technique applicationsA. A. Augustinos , K. Nikolouli , L. D. De La Fuente , M. Misbah-Ul-Haq, D. O. Carvalho and K. Bourtzis, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2022.
Aedes aegypti is an invasive mosquito species and major vector of human arboviruses. A wide variety of control methods have been employed to combat mosquito populations. One of them is the sterile insect technique (SIT) that has recently attracted considerable research efforts ... |
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Beyond the eye: Kynurenine pathway impairment causes midgut homeostasis dysfunction and survival and reproductive costs in blood-feeding mosquitoesV. Bottino-Rojas, I. Ferreira, R. D. Nunes, X. Feng, T. B. Pham, A. Kelsey, R. Carballar-Lejarazú, V. Gantz, P. L. Oliveira and A. A. James, Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 103720. 2022.
Insect ommochrome biosynthesis pathways metabolize tryptophan to generate eye-color pigments and naturally occurring alleles of pathway genes are useful phenotypic markers in transgenesis studies. Pleiotropic effects of mutations in some genes exert a load on both survival and ... |
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Perspectives into Genetic Manipulations for Control of Dengue Vector (Aedes aegypti Linnaeus, 1762) with Reference to Progress in Indian ExperimentsR. Chatterjee, S. Bhattacharya and B. K. Tyagi, Genetically Modified and other Innovative Vector Control Technologies, 2021.
Vector-borne diseases like malaria, dengue, chikungunya, Japanese encephalitis, Zika and others claim millions of lives across the globe annually, and as such their control has become an ardent necessity. Past attempts over the decades have introduced vector control through ... |
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Engineering RNA Interference-Based Dengue Virus Resistance in the Mosquito Vector Aedes aegypti: The Current Status and Future DirectionsS. D. Denipitiyage, Y. I. N. S. Gunawardene, Z. Federico and R. S. Dassanayake, Genetically Modified and other Innovative Vector Control Technologies, 2021.
Dengue is an acute, febrile disease caused by the dengue viruses (DENV) comprising four serotypes and transmitted by the mosquito vector Ae. aegypti. DENV are single-stranded, positive-sense RNA viruses of the family Flaviviridae. Dengue is declared as a current significant ... |
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Oxitec wraps mosquito trials for the seasonT. O'Hara, Keynews.com, 2021.
The private bio-tech company Oxitec has wrapped up its test release of genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys |
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Genomic insertion locus and Cas9 expression in the germline affect CRISPR/Cas9-based gene drive performance in the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegyptiW. R. Reid, J. Lin, A. E. Williams, R. Juncu, K. E. Olson and A. W. E. Franz, bioRxiv, 2021.12.08.471839. 2021.
The yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti is a major vector of arthropod-borne viruses, including dengue, chikungunya, and Zika. A novel approach to mitigate arboviral infections is to generate mosquitoes refractory to infection by overexpressing antiviral effector molecules. Such ... |
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In Real Life: GMOsquitoesNewsy, Newsy, 2021.
The release of genetically modified mosquitoes in Florida gives hope of reducing the spread of disease while causing concerns among some citizens. |
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Major phase of Florida Keys GMO mosquito release complete, company saysD. Goodhue, Miami Herald, 2021.
A British biotechnology company and the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District on Tuesday announced they have “successfully concluded” a major phase in a controversial trial project aimed at wiping out an invasive species of mosquito known to spread dangerous diseases like ... |
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Science Has Given Us the Power to Undermine Nature’s Deadliest Creature: Should We Use It?E. Herold, leaps.org, 2021.
British biotech company Oxitec has engineered male mosquitoes to have a genetic "kill-switch" that could potentially crash the local population of Aedes aegypti, at least in the short-term. The modified males that are being released are intended to mate with wild females. Males ... |
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High Temperature Cycles Result in Maternal Transmission and Dengue Infection Differences Between Wolbachia Strains in Aedes aegyptiM. V. Mancini, T. H. Ant, C. S. Herd, J. Martinez, S. M. Murdochy, D. D. Gingell, E. Mararo, P. C. D. Johnson and S. P. Sinkins, mBio, e0025021. 2021.
Environmental factors play a crucial role in the population dynamics of arthropod endosymbionts, and therefore in the deployment of Wolbachia symbionts for the control of dengue arboviruses. The potential of Wolbachia to invade, persist, and block virus transmission depends in ... |
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Oxitec Announces Ground-breaking Commercial Launch of Its Friendly™ Aedes aegypti Solution in BrazilOxitec, COSION, 2021.
Oxitec, the leading developer of biological solutions to control pests, announced today the landmark commercial launch of its Friendly™ Aedes aegypti solution designed specifically for use by homeowners, businesses, and communities to control the dengue-spreading Aedes aegypti ... |
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Fighting Dengue Virus with Biological WeaponsZ. Ebrahim, Inter Press Service, 2021.
For the last 11 years, he has been trying to convince both the provincial and central governments of making “billions of mosquitoes in labs”, which when released in the wild, could reduce the spread of dengue virus, but with little luck. The released genetically engineered ... |
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Wolbachia goes to work in the war on mosquitoesS. Ong, Nature, 598:S32-s34. 2021.
There are two approaches to tackling dengue with Wolbachia. The first involves releasing only modified male mosquitoes. Since 2015, this strategy has been successfully adopted in Singapore and Guangzhou, China, and in parts of the United States, such as Miami, Texas and ... |
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Sterilizing Male Mosquitoes with Gene Editing to Reduce Disease SpreadGlobal Biodefense Staff, Global Biodefense, 2021.
Researchers at the Army’s Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies and the University of California Santa Barbara used a gene editing tool known as CRISPR-Cas9 to target a specific gene tied to fertility in male mosquitoes. Researchers experimented with the Aedes aegypti ... |
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Trial suppresses mosquitoes using non-GMO approachGM Watch, GM Watch, 2021.
In a first for the Southern Hemisphere, researchers have shown that a bacterium can successfully suppress populations of the invasive, disease-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito that is responsible for spreading dengue, yellow fever and Zika. Published in PNAS (see abstract below), ... |
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Invasive, disease-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito sterilized with bacteria and eradicated in large-scale trialCSIRO, Phys Org, 2021.
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 ... |
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Releasing incompatible males drives strong suppression across populations of wild and Wolbachiat-carrying Aedes aegypti in AustraliaN. W. Beebe, D. Pagendam, B. J. Trewin, A. Boomer, M. Bradford, A. Ford, C. Liddington, A. Bondarenco, P. J. De Barro, J. Gilchrist, C. Paton, K. M. Staunton, B. Johnson, A. J. Maynard, G. J. Devine, L. E. Hugo, G. Rasic, H. Cook, P. Massaro, N. Snoad, J., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118:e2106828118. 2021.
Through replicated treatment and control experiments in northern Australia, regular releases of Aedes aegypti males infected with a Wolbachia from Aedes albopictus was shown to drive strong population suppression in mosaic populations of wild-type (no Wolbachia) and ... |
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Investigation of Developmental Stage/Age, Gamma Irradiation Dose, and Temperature in Sterilization of Male Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) in a Sterile Insect Technique ProgramB. Ernawan, T. Anggraeni, S. Yusmalinar and I. Ahmad, Journal of Medical Entomology, 59:320-327. 2021.
The sterilization process using gamma irradiation is a crucial component in a program using sterile insect technique (SIT) to control Aedes aegypti. Unfortunately, there is no efficient standard protocol for sterilizing mosquitoes that can produce a high level of ... |
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Plan for California’s Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Draws FireT. Baltz, Bloomberg Law, 2021.
A U.K.-based biotech company’s proposal to release genetically engineered mosquitoes in California as a disease-control measure is prompting criticism that the program could create unnatural consequences. Oxitec says it would unleash safe, non-biting male mosquitoes to reduce ... |
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Mosquitoes Sterilized by CRISPR Powered Precision SystemA. A. Sarkar, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, 2021.
Each year millions around the world are infected by dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses. The principal culprit behind the transmission of these deadly diseases is the mosquito vector, Aedes aegypti. Conventional methods of pest control have so far fallen short. To curb the ... |
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New precision-guided sterile insect technique designed to control disease-spreading mosquitoesE. Henderson, News Medical Life Sciences, 2021.
Leveraging advancements in CRISPR-based genetic engineering, researchers at the University of California San Diego have created a new system that restrains populations of mosquitoes that infect millions each year with debilitating diseases. The new precision-guided sterile ... |
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Genetic engineering tech promises to sterilize disease-spreading mosquitoesB. Hays, UPI, 2021.
Inspired by improvements in CRISPR-based genetic engineering, scientists have developed a more precise insect sterilization system to curtail, or even eliminate, disease-spreading Aedes aegypti mosquito populations. The so-called "precision-guided sterile insect technique," or ... |
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Genetic Engineering Technology Promises To Sterilize Disease-Spreading Mosquito PopulationsD. Gyllhem, VIGOURTIMES, 2021.
Inspired by improvements in CRISPR-based genetic engineering, scientists have developed a more precise insect sterilization system to curtail, or even eliminate, disease-spreading Aedes aegypti mosquito populations. The so-called “precision-guided sterile insect technique,” ... |
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New Technology Designed to Genetically Control Disease-spreading MosquitoesM. Aguilera, UC San Diego News Center, 2021.
Leveraging advancements in CRISPR-based genetic engineering, researchers at the University of California San Diego have created a new system that restrains populations of mosquitoes that infect millions each year with debilitating diseases. An illustration by study coauthor ... |
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Suppressing mosquito populations with precision guided sterile malesM. Li, T. Yang, M. Bui, S. Gamez, T. Wise, N. P. Kandul, J. Liu, L. Alcantara, H. Lee, J. R. Edula, R. Raban, Y. Zhan, Y. Wang, N. DeBeaubien, J. Chen, H. M. Sánchez C, J. B. Bennett, I. Antoshechkin, C. Montell, J. M. Marshall and O. S. Akbari, Nature Communications, 12:5374. 2021.
The mosquito Aedes aegypti is the principal vector for arboviruses including dengue/yellow fever, chikungunya, and Zika virus, infecting hundreds of millions of people annually. Unfortunately, traditional control methodologies are insufficient, so innovative control methods are ... |
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Assessment of fitness and vector competence of a New Caledonia wMel Aedes aegypti strain before field-releaseN. Pocquet, O. O’Connor, H. A. Flores, J. Tutagata, M. Pol, D. J. Hooker, C. Inizan, S. Russet, J. M. Duyvestyn, E. C. Pacidônio, D. Girault, D. da Silva Gonçalves, M. Minier, F. Touzain, E. Chalus, K. Lucien, F. Cheilan, T. Derycke, S. Laumond, C. P. Sim, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 15:e0009752. 2021.
Dengue represents a risk for almost half of the world’s population, especially throughout the tropics. In New Caledonia, dengue outbreaks have become more frequent in the past decade along with the recent circulation of chikungunya and Zika viruses. The opportunity to use the ... |
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Genetically Modified Mosquitoes — What’s The Real Story?SPW Staff, Southeast Product Weekly, 2021.
You’ve heard about the genetically modified mutant mosquitoes being released in the Florida Keys — but what exactly is going on, and how, and why? Basically, researchers in parts of the Florida Keys are releasing male mosquitoes that have been genetically modified to produce ... |
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EPA Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Amendment to Experimental Use Permit for Genetically Engineered MosquitoesPCT Staff, Pest Control Technology, 2021.
EPA is seeking public comment on a proposed amendment to extend and expand an approved Experimental Use Permit (EUP). The EUP currently allows Oxitec Ltd. to field test the use of genetically engineered Aedes aegypti mosquitoes as a way to reduce mosquito populations in Florida ... |
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UF/IFAS Researchers Explain Science Behind Genetically Modified MosquitoesPCT Staff, Pest Control Technology, 2021.
South Florida residents seeking science-based information about genetically modified mosquitoes can access a new, online resource from University of Florida scientists at the UF/IFAS Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory.“ Genetically Modified Mosquitoes” is the latest ... |
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New Way to Reduce Diseases Spreading Through MosquitosDr Jayashree, Medindia, 2021.
Using a gene editing tool known as CRISPR-Cas9 that targets specific genes tied to fertility in male mosquitoes, we can slow the spread of potentially deadly diseases such as Zika, dengue fever and yellow fever. This genome editing tool is creating a buzz in the science world, as ... |
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Gene Editing Could Render Mosquitos InfertileU.S. Army DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory Public Affairs, U.S. Army, 2021.
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Genetically Modified MosquitoesE. P. Caragata, Y. Lee and E. A. Buckner, UF IFAS Extension Service, 2021.
Genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes are controversial, partly because of misinformation. This publication provides science-based information about GM mosquitoes to the public and anyone involved in mosquito control. It explains what GM mosquitoes are and why they are being ... |
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The Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) hsp83 Gene Promoter Drives Strong Ubiquitous DsRed and ZsGreen Marker Expression in Transgenic MosquitoesS. H. Webster and M. J. Scott, Journal of Medical Entomology, 2021.
Transgenic strains of the mosquito disease vector Aedes aegypti (L.) are being developed for population suppression or modification. Transgenic mosquitoes are identified using fluorescent protein genes. Here we describe DsRed and ZsGreen marker genes driven by the constitutive ... |
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A wAlbB Wolbachia< transinfection displays stable phenotypic effects across divergent Aedes aegypti mosquito backgroundsP. A. Ross, X. Gu, K. L. Robinson, Q. Yang, E. Cottingham, Y. Zhang, H. L. Yeap, X. Xu, N. M. Endersby-Harshman and A. A. Hoffmann, bioRxiv, 2021.06.25.450002. 2021.
Aedes mosquitoes harboring intracellular Wolbachia bacteria are being released in arbovirus and mosquito control programs. With releases taking place around the world, understanding the contribution of host variation to Wolbachia phenotype is crucial. We generated a Wolbachia ... |
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Wolbachia-mediated sterility suppresses Aedes aegypti populations in the urban tropicsProject Wolbachia-Singapore Consortium, medRxiv, 2021.
Incompatible insect technique (IIT) via releases of male Wolbachiainfected mosquitoes is a promising tool for dengue control. In a three-year trial in Singaporean high-rise housing estates, we demonstrated that Wolbachia-based IIT dramatically reduces both wildtype Aedes aegypti ... |
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Genetically Modified Mosquitoes; ‘Truth Like Oil’ NovelHere and Now, WBUR, 2021.
Florida Keys officials are working on a unique experiment: hatching thousands of genetically modified mosquitos and releasing them. Andrea Leal of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District explains. |
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The First Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Have Just Been Released in The USAdmin, Science World, 2021.
The biotech firm Oxitec has released its genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys, with the goal of suppressing wild, disease-carrying mosquito populations in the region. This is the first time genetically modified mosquitoes have been released in the US. Oxitec ... |
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Using Wolbachia to Eliminate Dengue: Will the Virus Fight Back?M. Edenborough Kathryn, A. Flores Heather, P. Simmons Cameron, E. Fraser Johanna and C. Pierson Ted, Journal of Virology, 95:e02203-20. 2021.
Recent fieldtrials havedemonstratedthatdengue incidence can besubstantially reduced by introgressing strains of the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia into Aedes aegypti mosquito populations. This strategy relies on Wolbachia reducing the susceptibility of Ae. aegypti to ... |
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Mutant mosquitoes carrying ‘death gene’ released as ‘bio-engineered’ insects terrifyJ. Caven, Daily Star, 2021.
Mutant mosquitoes which carry a ‘death gene’ have been released into the skies in a bid to curb diseases from spreading to humans. Tens of thousands of genetically modified male insects will mate with female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which transmit illnesses, in Florida ... |
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Improving mosquito control strategies with population genomicsT. L. Schmidt, N. M. Endersby-Harshman and A. A. Hoffmann, Trends in Parasitology, 37:907-921. 2021.
Mosquito control strategies increasingly apply knowledge from population genomics research. This review highlights recent applications to three research domains: mosquito invasions, insecticide resistance evolution, and rear and release programs. Current research trends follow ... |
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Mosquitoes are deadly pests, genetically-modified mosquitoes could help stop diseaseT. Browne, ClickOrlando, 2021.
Hearing the words “genetically modified mosquitoes” can sound like the plot for a science-fiction movie but Meredith Fenson, a native Floridian turned biological pest control specialist says, “mosquitoes are the world’s deadliest animal by far” and a study happening ... |
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Suppression of female fertility in Aedes aegypti with a CRISPR-targeted male-sterile mutationJ. Chen, J. Luo, Y. Wang, A. S. Gurav, M. Li, O. S. Akbari and C. Montell, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118:e2105075118. 2021.
We introduced and characterized the impact on female fertility of an Ae. aegypti mutation that disrupts a gene that is specifically expressed in testes. We used CRISPR/Cas9 to generate a null mutation in the Ae. aegypti β2-tubulin (B2t) gene, which eliminates male fertility. ... |
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Florida Environmental Group Says GMO Mosquitoes Fall Short on Scientific RigorC. Drukier, NTD, 2021.
America’s first genetically modified mosquitoes are now buzzing around six locations in the Florida Keys as part of a pilot project. Developed by UK biotech company Oxitec, the bugs are designed to kill off the wild population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that carry diseases ... |
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Sterile Insect Technique: Successful Suppression of an Aedes aegypti Field Population in CubaR. Gato, Z. Menendez, E. Prieto, R. Argiles, M. Rodriguez, W. Baldoquin, Y. Hernandez, D. Perez, J. Anaya, I. Fuentes, C. Lorenzo, K. Gonzalez, Y. Campo and J. Bouyer, Insects, 12:13. 2021.
Here, we describe an open field trial to evaluate the effect of the release of irradiated male Ae. aegypti on a wild population. The pilot trial was carried out in a suburb of Havana and compared the mosquito population density before and after the intervention, in both untreated ... |
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Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Take Flight to Fight Invasive Species in FloridT. Machemer, Smithosonian Magazine, 2021.
In late April, the biotechnology company Oxitec placed blue-and-white hexagonal boxes on the properties of six private volunteers around the Florida Keys. After pouring in water, the genetically modified mosquito eggs inside activated and hatched. Now the first larvae have ... |
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Genetically modified mosquitoes may help scientists swat dreaded midgeW. Jean, The Times, 2021.
Scotland’s bloodthirsty midges may finally meet their match thanks to revolutionary genetic manipulation techniques that could stop the pesky insects biting chunks out of the tourist industry. News that a British biotechnology company has created genetically modified non-biting ... |
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The U.S.’s first open-air genetically modified mosquitoes have taken flightS. Milius, Science News, 2021.
The first genetically modified mosquitoes that will be allowed to fly free outdoors in the United States have started reaching the age for mating in the Florida Keys. In a test of the biotech company Oxitec’s GM male mosquitoes for pest control, these Aedes aegypti started ... |
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Use of genetically modifed mosquitoes to minimize the burden of diseases casused by mosquitoes in South Texas.MDN Staff, MegaDoctor News, 2021.
Of the many species of mosquitoes, female Aedes aegypti is the primary vector that is responsible for transmission of several diseases and has been most extensively studied. The efforts of the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent ... |
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Monster Mosquito–Why the Technology of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes is Dangerous and Should Be Stopped WorldwideB. Dogra, counter currents, 2021.
After sparking controversy in other countries including India, the technology of genetically engineered mosquitoes is now leading to widespread protests in Florida USA. Here the biotechnology giant company Oxitec in collaboration with local officialdom is moving ahead with a ... |
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Florida releases genetically modified mosquitoes in hopes to reduce spread of diseaseA. Fahim, Reuters, 2021.
Genetically modified mosquitoes have been released for the first time in the United States, taking flight in the Florida Keys in a pilot program intended to reduce the spread of deadly diseases such as dengue, yellow fever and the Zika virus.After an odyssey spanning more than a ... |
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Why Florida is releasing genetically modified mosquitoesM. Murphy, The Telegraph, 2021.
The thousands of lab-grown mosquitoes hatching in humid gardens across Florida’s tropical Key West next week will be blissfully ignorant of the controversy they have caused. Billboards have already begun appearing near busy motorways in protest of their arrival, with one ... |
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Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Have Come to the U.S. Will They Work?A. de la Garza, TIME, 2021.
“Our Mosquito Project Takes Flight,” reads a baby-blue billboard off US-1 in the Florida Keys, alongside an image of an insect tracing a path in the shape of a heart. Sponsored by the local mosquito control board and U.K.-based biotech firm Oxitec, the ad promotes a ... |
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Bill Gates finances the creation of transgenic mosquitoesExplica.co, explica, 2021.
Male mosquitoes (they do not bite. They feed on nectar, not blood) from Oxitec will emerge from release boxes placed in six locations in the Florida Keys to mate with local female mosquitoes (they do bite. They do feed on blood). The female offspring from these encounters cannot ... |
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Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Released In US For First Time To Combat DiseaseJ. Van Zijl, IFL Science, 2021.
A landmark project, spearheaded by the biotechnology company, Oxitec, has released genetically modified mosquitos in the Florida Keys. This marks the first time that genetically modified mosquitos have been released into the wild in the US. The reason: to combat the Aedes aegypti ... |
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Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Released In Florida ‘Jurassic Park Experiment’D. Richardson, UNILAD, 2021.
Mosquitos are not only annoying but they can carry disease in their bites. In response to this, a company called Oxitec has genetically modified male mosquitos to pass on a killswitch to females. It is hoped that these genetically modified pests will help stop the transmission of ... |
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Gravitas: Genetically modified mosquitoes arrive in FloridaP. Sharma, WION, 2021.
Genetically engineered mosquitoes have arrived in U.S. 20 million 'modified mosquitoes' will be released in Florida to help prevent Dengue. But, Florida residents fear a 'mosquito apocalypse' |
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Reengineered mosquitoes released in Florida pilot programS. W. Tan, The Washington Times, 2021.
Genetically engineered mosquitoes have been released in the U.S. for the first time in the Florida Keys, with hopes of quelling wild, disease-carrying mosquito populations in the region. British-based biotech firm Oxitec genetically engineered Aedes aegypti non-biting male ... |
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First genetically modified mosquitoes released in USN. Lanese, LiveScience, 2021.
The biotech firm Oxitec has released its genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys, with the goal of suppressing wild, disease-carrying mosquito populations in the region. This is the first time genetically modified mosquitoes have been released in the U.S. Oxitec ... |
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Bill Gates-backed startup releases millions of genetically modified mosquitoesENTREPRENEUR STAFF, Entrepreneur, 2021.
The British company Oxitec released a cloud of hundreds of millions of genetically modified mosquitoes to study how to control their reproduction and thus stop the spread of dengue, Zika, malaria, etc. As reported by Axios , the company, which is funded by the Bill and Melinda ... |
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First US Field Test of GM Mosquitoes Begins in FloridaC. Wilcox, The Scientist, 2021.
he first US field test of genetically modified mosquitoes for population control has begun in Florida. Approximately 144,000 mosquitoes engineered by the UK-based biotech firm Oxitec are to be expected to be set free over the next three months, the first of up to 750 million ... |
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The first transgenic mosquitoes were releaseed in the United States.D. Davis, Prudent Press Agency, 2021.
After a decade of fighting for regulatory approval and public acceptance, the biotech company has released GMO mosquitoes outdoors in the United States for the first time. The experiment, which began this week in the Florida Keys, despite objections from some local critics, is ... |
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The Bill Gates Corporation, Backed by Bill Gates, Releases Thousands of Genetically Modified MosquitoesT. Meeks, Aviation Analysis, 2021.
British company Oxitec has launched transgenic mosquitoes in the Florida Keys, in the United States, to study how to control their reproduction and thus limit the spread of chronic diseases transmitted by insects such as dengue fever and the Zika virus. The company, funded by ... |
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Genetically modified mosquitos: Biohacking for disease prevention.D. Maloney, HACKADAY, 2021.
Mosquito control is basically a numbers game, stacked in their favor. Since each female lays 100 to 200 eggs in a clutch, in wet climates, mosquitos are simply too prolific to get ahead of using standard means. Coupled with collateral damage to the environment — draining ... |
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First genetically modified mosquitoes released in the United StatesE. Waltz, Nature, 2021.
After a decade of fighting for regulatory approval and public acceptance, a biotechnology firm has released genetically engineered mosquitoes into the open air in the United States for the first time. The experiment, launched this week in the Florida Keys — over the objections ... |
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Oxitec releases first genetically modified mosquitoes in U.S.J. Knutson, Axios, 2021.
Oxitec, a British startup determined to prevent instances of mosquito-borne disease, released thousands of genetically modified mosquito eggs in the Florida Keys this week as part of a test approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and Florida's agriculture department. Why ... |
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Genetically modified mosquitoes have landed in the Keys. Here’s what you need to knowG. Filosa, Miami Herald, 2021.
More than 20 million genetically modified mosquitoes are coming to the Florida Keys this year, in a landmark project by British biotech company Oxitec and Monroe County’s Mosquito Control District. This mosquito control method hasn’t been used in the U.S. before. It’s a ... |
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Genetically modified mosquitoes | Connect the Dotsthv11, THV11, 2021.
This is a local TV story from Arkansas of the Oxitec trial being conducted in Florida. |
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‘Home to GMO Mosquitoes?!’ Florida Unleashes a Billion Lab Grown MosquitoesAnonymous, B and T MAGAZINE, 2021.
Up to a billion genetically engineered mosquitoes are going to be released in the Florida Keys—but locals are having none of it, with billboards erected saying ‘no!’ to the damned blood suckers. The genetically-modified mosquitoes, known as the OX5034, were made in a ... |
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The Release of 1 Billion Exterminator Mosquitoes Has BegunD. Noor, Gizmodo, 2021.
Tens of thousands of male mosquitoes are descending on the Florida Keys. But these are no ordinary mosquitoes: They’re genetically modified, and they were planted around the state on purpose. It’s part of a plan to curb disease by releasing 1 billion mosquitoes across two ... |
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First-ever US release of genetically modified mosquitoes begins in Florida KeysS. LaMotte, CNN, 2021.
The first release of genetically modified mosquitoes in the United States began this week in the Florida Keys -- the culmination of a decade-long effort by local mosquito control authorities to see if a genetically modified organism is a viable alternative to spraying ... |
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The first genetically modified mosquitoes released in the U.S. to buzz in the Florida KeysK. Weintraub, USA Today, 2021.
On Thursday morning, workers from a British company placed basketball-sized cardboard boxes into six yards in the Florida Keys. Then they added water. In a week or so, 12,000 male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes will – one by one – begin buzzing out of each box, the first ... |
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A Billion Lab-Grown Mosquitos Are Being Released and People Are Freaking OutV. Kipnis, Vice, 2021.
On Thursday afternoon, six Florida Keys residents will walk out into their yards and set out aquamarine cardboard boxes filled with mosquito larvae. Then, water will be poured into the containers. For the next ten days, as the mosquitoes grow into adults, their neighbors will be ... |
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The mosquito-bite fight beginsF. Billingsley, Click2Houston, 2021.
Anyone who thought February’s freeze would kill all the mosquitos is biting up the wrong leg. They are back and, seemingly so, with a vengeance (did surviving just make them stronger, one wonders?). In Florida this week, an interesting and controversial fight against the bite ... |
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Nearly 144K GMO Mosquitoes to be Released in South Florida: What We KnowJ. Prigeon, 6 South Florida, 2021.
Nearly 144,000 genetically modified mosquitoes will be released in South Florida this week as part of an effort to reduce the population disease-carrying mosquitoes. The landmark release of GMO insects marks the beginning of the U.S.-approved program to control the number of ... |
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Nation’s first trial of genetically modified mosquitoes starts in Florida KeysS. Brock, TODAY, 2021.
To control the population of potentially disease-spreading mosquitoes, a controversial project is getting underway in the Florida Keys, highlighted by the release of even more mosquitoes that have been genetically modified. NBC’s Sam Brock reports for TODAY from Miami. |
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Florida Unleashing Thousands of MosquitoesAnonymous, The Weather Channel, 2021.
Florida will begin releasing thousands of genetically modified mosquitoes in the Keys this week to combat diseases like Zika and dengue. But the government’s green light has some residents seeing red. |
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GMO mosquitoes to be released in Florida KeysNBC News, WRCBtv, 2021.
Florida will begin releasing genetically modified mosquitoes this week as part of its efforts to control one of the disease-spreading species of the biting insect. The state will release almost 144,000 nonbiting male mosquitoes in the coming weeks engineered by the British firm ... |
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Nearly 150,000 Gene-Hacked Mosquitoes to Be Unleashed in FloridaS. Kim, Newsweek, 2021.
Nearly 150,000 mosquitoes that have been genetically modified by Oxitec, a biotechnology company based in the U.K., will be released across parts of Monroe County's Florida Keys region starting this week. The release is part of an experiment to help combat a disease-transmitting ... |
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Genetically modified mosquito larvae to be released in Florida KeysE. Helmore, The Guardian, 2021.
The Florida Keys will this week see the release of genetically modified, non-biting male mosquito larvae as part of a controversial program designed to curb the spread of insect-borne diseases such as dengue, Zika and yellow fever. The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District and ... |
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Florida set to release swarms of GMO mosquitoes as residents decry ‘criminal experiment’ by Bill Gates-backed biotechrt com, rt com, 2021.
A plan to release thousands of genetically modified mosquitoes in an effort to combat disease in the Florida Keys has triggered dire concerns among locals, some saying the “criminal” experiment will turn them into guinea pigs. Spearheaded by the Florida Keys Mosquito Control ... |
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BUZZ OFF Florida residents blast pest control ‘TERRORISTS’ over plans to unleash a BILLION mutant mosquitoes in the KeysJ. Bentley-York, The SUN, 2021.
The areas Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) are set to release the gene hacked ‘fraken-squitoes' in a bid to fight insect-borne viruses like yellow fever. A BILLION mutant mosquitoes are set to be released in the Keys to fight insect-borne viruses like yellow fever Florida pest ... |
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Florida to release a billion genetically modified mosquitoes and people are worriedB. Robinson, indy100, 2021.
It sounds like the pitch for a horror movie, but Florida’s about to release up to a billion genetically modified mosquitoes in the Keys. What could go wrong? Florida residents and environmentalists are already voicing their concerns after state officials and Oxitec, a ... |
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Thousands of genetically modified mosquitoes being released in FloridaT. Lapin, New York Post, 2021.
Thousands of genetically modified mosquitoes have begun to be released in Florida this week as part of an effort to combat a disease-spreading species of the insect. The buzzy project, from British biotech company Oxitec, aims to curb the population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, ... |
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Halt This Nightmare’: Alarm as Florida Set to Begin Release of Genetically Engineered MosquitoesJ. Johnson, Common Dreams, 2021.
Environmentalists and Florida residents voiced concern and outrage Monday as state government officials and the biotechnology giant Oxitec announced plans to move ahead this week with a pilot project that involves releasing up to a billion genetically engineered mosquitoes in ... |
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Florida residents claim ‘pest control trial’ that will release up to a BILLION genetically engineered mosquitos in the Keys to reduce species carrying diseases is ‘TERRORISM’S. Liberatore, Daily Mail, 2021.
The Florida Keys will soon be buzzing with close to a billion 'fraken-squitoes' – gene-hacked mosquitoes aimed at eradicating a disease carrying mosquito. The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) and Oxitec, a British biotech company, are starting the first-ever U.S. ... |
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Coalition Against GMO Mosquito Condemns Release of Genetically Engineered MosquitoesGMO Free USA, 3BL CSRwire, 2021.
Despite a decade of community opposition, the experimental release of genetically engineered mosquitoes begins today in the Florida Keys. British biotech corporation, Oxitec, in collaboration with the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, plans to release up to a billion ... |
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Nation’s First Trial Of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Starts In Florida KeysN. Klingener, WLRN, 2021.
Boxes containing the eggs of genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, water and a little food are being placed in six locations in the Lower and Middle Keys this week — in a trial that will be the first of its kind in the United States. The genetic modification is ... |
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First GMO mosquitoes to be released in the Florida KeysT. White, UNDARK, 2021.
Oxitec says its technology will combat dengue fever, a potentially life-threatening disease, and other mosquito-borne viruses — such as Zika — mainly transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. While there have been more than 7,300 dengue cases reported in the United States ... |
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Village hears from experts as genetic-mosquito release experiment nears.J. McCarthy, KEYSWEEKLY, 2021.
On March 18, Islamorada Village Council heard from several independent scientists who discussed information and issues behind the genetically modified mosquitoes for population and disease suppression. The scientists collectively said they’re neither for nor against the ... |
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Sterile Insect Technique in an Integrated Vector Management Program against Tiger Mosquito Aedes albopictus in the Valencia Region (Spain): Operating Procedures and Quality Control ParametersC. Tur, D. Almenar, S. Benlloch-Navarro, R. Argilés-Herrero, M. Zacarés, V. Dalmau and I. Pla, Insects, 12. 2021.
The Agriculture Department of the Valencian Region is promoting an ongoing pilot project to evaluate the efficacy of an integrated vector management program (IVM) based on the use of the SIT as the main method of control. The laboratory studies for evaluating the entomological ... |
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Current Effector and Gene-Drive Developments to Engineer Arbovirus-Resistant Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) for a Sustainable Population Replacement Strategy in the FieldW. R. Reid, K. E. Olson and A. W. E. Franz, J Med Entomol, 2021.
Conventional mosquito control efforts based on insecticide treatments and/or the use of bednets and window curtains are currently insufficient to reduce arbovirus prevalence in affected regions. Novel, genetic strategies that are being developed involve the genetic manipulation ... |
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Mosquito anxiety prompts query from congressmanT. Java, Keynews.com, 2021.
Anxiety among some residents over the pending release of hundreds of millions of genetically modified mosquitoes next month in undisclosed locations throughout the Florida Keys has prompted Congressman Carlos Gimenez to seek answers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. ... |
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Eliminating Mosquitoes with Precision Guided Sterile MalesM. Li, T. Yang, M. Bui, S. Gamez, T. Wise, N. P. Kandul, J. Liu, L. Alcantara, H. Lee, J. R. Edula, R. Raban, Y. Zhan, Y. Wang, N. DeBeaubien, J. Chen, H. M. Sanchez C, J. B. Bennett, I. Antoshechkin, C. Montell, J. M. Marshall and O. S. Akbari, bioRxiv, 2021.03.05.434167. 2021.
Here we develop a molecular genetic control system termed precision guided sterile insect technique (pgSIT) in Aedes aegypti. PgSIT uses a simple CRISPR-based approach to generate sterile males that are deployable at any life stage. Supported by mathematical models, we ... |
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Tensions rise as GM mosquito release nears in Florida KeysT. O'Hara, Keynews.com, 2021.
Tensions seem to be rising as a planned release of genetically modified mosquitoes nears. The British-based biotech company Oxitec plans to release genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in the Florida Keys sometime after April, but has yet to disclose exact locations in ... |
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Florida Keys moves forward with genetically modified mosquitoesH. Vela, local10.com, 2021.
The feared GMO mosquitoes are not going away. Opponents of the technology fear the date of the release in the Florida Keys is getting closer, and they are not ready for the possible repercussions of the experiment. The fight over whether or not to release genetically modified ... |
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When and where will millions of mosquitoes be released? Here are details for Florida KeysD. Goodhue, Miami Herald, 2021.
The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District announced this week a wide and vague planned range of deployment for the lab-designed mosquitoes — neighborhoods from mile marker 10 to 93. The trial is being conducted by British biotech company Oxitec. It’s a method approved by the ... |
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Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) against Aedes Species Mosquitoes: A Roadmap and Good Practice Framework for Designing, Implementing and Evaluating Pilot Field TrialsC. F. Oliva, M. Q. Benedict, C. M. Collins, T. Baldet, R. Bellini, H. Bossin, J. Bouyer, V. Corbel, L. Facchinelli, F. Fouque, M. Geier, A. Michaelakis, D. Roiz, F. Simard, C. Tur and L.-C. Gouagna, Insects, 12. 2021.
We offer here a pragmatic and accessible ‘roadmap’ for the pre-pilot and pilot phases to guide any interested party. This will support stakeholders, non-specialist scientists, implementers, and decision-makers. Applying these concepts will ensure, given adequate resources, a ... |
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Mosquito trial will begin in April, but Keys locations won’t be disclosedS. Matthis, KEYSWEEKLY, 2021.
FKMCD spokesman Chad Huff wrote in an email, “The physical location of each box is still being finalized. Since most will be situated on private property at owner request, FKMCD-Oxitec will NOT be providing specific addresses due to privacy concerns and protection of project ... |
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Locals protest over genetically modified mosquito plan in Florida KeysD. Goodhue, Miami Herald, 2021.
Sometime this year, somewhere in the Florida Keys, a British biotech company is expected to release millions of genetically modified male mosquitoes in an effort to breed out of existence an invasive species of bug responsible for the transmittal of deadly diseases like dengue ... |
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Oxitec gears up for test releasesT. O'Hara, Keynews.com, 2021.
The United Kingdom-based biotech company Oxitec will soon announce the test locations and timetable for releasing its genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys. |
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Mosquitoes genetically modified to be resistant to ZikaStaff, Lab+Life Scientist, 2021.
Researchers have wrestled with different strategies for controlling the spread of Zika virus, which is transmitted to humans from female mosquito bites. One approach, which has been approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency, will see more than 750 million genetically ... |
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Project Wolbachia: Residents are killing the ‘helpful’ mosquitoes, which can be a nuisanceT. J. Cheng, today, 2021.
In 2019, Dr Amy Khor, then Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources, said that there was a 90 per cent suppression rate at study sites in Tampines and Yishun from February to November that year. However, certain public housing estates under the project ... |
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Sexual Competitiveness and Induced Egg Sterility by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus Gamma-Irradiated Males: A Laboratory and Field Study in MexicoJ. G. Bond, S. Aguirre-Ibáñez, A. R. Osorio, C. F. Marina, Y. Gómez-Simuta, R. Tamayo-Escobar, A. Dor, P. Liedo, D. O. Carvalho and T. Williams, Insects, 12. 2021.
The sterile insect technique may prove useful for the suppression of mosquito vectors of medical importance in regions where arboviruses pose a serious public health threat. In the present study, we examined the effects of sterilizing irradiation doses across different ratios of ... |
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Genetically-modified mosquitoes key to stopping Zika virus spreadUniversity of Missouri, Medical Xpress, 2021.
Alexander Franz, an associate professor in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, collaborated with researchers at Colorado State University by using CRISPR gene-editing technology to produce mosquitoes that are unable to replicate Zika virus and therefore cannot infect a human ... |
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‘Clever Approach’: Scientists Create GM-Free Organisms Using Genetic EngineeringA. Paleja, The WIRE, 2021.
Farther to the north, researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed a novel way to resolve this problem. They used genetic engineering to create organisms for release that are not genetically modified. Maciej Maselko was a postdoctoral associate at the university ... |
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Population Dynamics of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus in Two Rural Villages in Southern Mexico: Baseline Data for an Evaluation of the Sterile Insect TechniqueC. F. Marina, J. G. Bond, K. Hernández-Arriaga, J. Valle, A. Ulloa, I. Fernández-Salas, D. O. Carvalho, K. Bourtzis, A. Dor, T. Williams and P. Liedo, Insects, 12. 2021.
Indoor and outdoor ovitraps were placed in 15 randomly selected houses in two rural villages in Chiapas, southern Mexico. In addition, ovitraps were placed in five transects surrounding each village, with three traps per transect, one at the edge, one at 50 m, and another at 100 ... |
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Genetic sexing strains for the population suppression of the mosquito vector Aedes aegyptiP. Koskinioti, A. A. Augustinos, D. O. Carvalho, M. Misbah-ul-Haq, G. Pillwax, L. D. d. l. Fuente, G. Salvador-Herranz, R. A. Herrero and K. Bourtzis, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 376:20190808. 2020.
Here, we report on the construction of two genetic sexing strains using red- and white-eye colour mutations as selectable markers. Quality control analysis showed that the Red-eye genetic sexing strains (GSS) is better and more genetically stable than the White-eye GSS. The ... |
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Wolbachia strain wAlbB maintains high density and dengue inhibition following introduction into a field population of Aedes aegyptiN. A. Ahmad, M.-V. Mancini, T. H. Ant, J. Martinez, G. M. R. Kamarul, W. A. Nazni, A. A. Hoffmann and S. P. Sinkins, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 376:20190809. 2020.
Here, wAlbB-carrying Ae. aegypti collected from the field 20 months after the cessation of releases showed no reduction in Wolbachia density or tissue distribution changes compared to a wAlbB laboratory colony. The wAlbB strain continued to induce complete unidirectional ... |
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CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of female-biased genes AeAct-4 or myo-fem in Ae. aegypti results in a flightless phenotype in female, but not male mosquitoesS. O’Leary and Z. N. Adelman, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 14:e0008971. 2020.
Author summary Ae. aegypti is the most important vector of arboviruses throughout the world, and new strategies are urgently needed to add to our existing arsenal of control methods to prevent or halt disease transmission. Importantly, only female Ae. aegypti mosquitoes transmit ... |
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Converting female mosquitoes to non-biting males with implications for mosquito controlM. V. Candy, Vet Candy, 2020.
Virginia Tech researchers have proven that a single gene can convert female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes into fertile male mosquitoes and identified a gene needed for male mosquito flight. Male mosquitoes do not bite and are unable to transmit pathogens to humans. Female mosquitoes, ... |
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FKMCD and Oxitec WebinarsOxitec Ltd, FKMCD and Oxitec, 2020.
This FKMCD - Oxitec Public Educational Webinar, our ninth, shows how Oxitec's just-add-water technology helps control the Aedes aegypti mosquito population. The second half of the webinar includes questions and answers with attendees. |
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Fear of Oxitec mosquito release growsT. Java, Florida Keys Free Press, 2020.
A local effort has emerged to exclude Key Largo from a test release of genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes planned for the spring. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District have approved a release of United Kingdom-based ... |
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A CRISPR endonuclease gene drive reveals two distinct mechanisms of inheritance biasS. A. N. Verkuijl, E. González, J. X. D. Ang, M. Li, N. P. Kandul, M. Anderson, O. S. Akbari, M. Bonsall and L. Alphey, bioRxiv, 2020.12.15.421271. 2020.
In this study, we report the functioning of sds3, bgcn, and nup50 expressed Cas9 in an Aedes aegypti homing split drive system targeting the white gene. We report their inheritance biasing capability, propensity for maternal deposition, and zygotic/somatic expression. ... |
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Reply to: “Enhancement of Aedes aegypti susceptibility to dengue by Wolbachia is not supported”C. Souto-Maior, J. G. King, L. M. Sartori, R. Maciel-de-Freitas and M. G. M. Gomes, Nature Communications, 11:6113. 2020.
Ant et al.4 claim that concerns with the data and broader analysis make our conclusions misleading. We herein respond to their comments by demonstrating the robustness of our results to different treatments of the data, and expand our arguments for replacing currently adopted ... |
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Enhancement of Aedes aegypti susceptibility to dengue by Wolbachia is not supportedT. H. Ant, M.-V. Mancini, J. Martinez and S. P. Sinkins, Nature Communications, 11:6111. 2020.
King et al.3 used DENV infection and transmission modelling to reinterpret experimental data from two previous studies4,5. The authors claimed that wMel Wolbachia increase the mean susceptibility of Ae. aegypti to DENV, contradicting various other studies6,7,8,9,10,11,12. Here, ... |
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Fighting Mosquito With GMO Mosquito: The Battle Brewing in the Florida KeysS. MacLaughlin, NBC 6 South Florida, 2020.
Scientists are a few months into an experiment to stop the invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito. Their weapon of choice? A genetically modified mosquito. But some environment advocates question the strategy. This year, the Florida Keys had an outbreak of Dengue fever, which was ... |
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Florida will release 750 million genetically modified mosquitoesS. McGlaun, Slash Gear, 2020.
Local officials in Florida have announced that they have approved 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes to be released into the environment to reduce local populations of the bloodsucking creatures. The goal of releasing genetically modified mosquitoes is to help reduce the ... |
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You should be excited that scientists are releasing 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes this yearL. Westreich, Massive Science, 2020.
GM mosquitoes are successful in reducing mosquito populations, and reducing disease spread |
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The Con Job at Mosquito Control BoardE. Russo and B. Wray, keysnews.com, 2020.
Shouldn’t there be a consensus among scholars, scientists, experts and the public that this new technology is safe? |
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GMOs make war on mosquitoesStaff, Kenosha News, 2020.
Given that recent record, we were a bit surprised to read that there was a ruckus over genetically modified mosquitoes going on in the Florida Keys. |
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Why Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Won’t Come to Texas Anytime SoonC. Adams, RA News, 2020.
Talks about releasing genetically modified mosquitoes in Houston began in 2018 between Harris County and Oxitec, a United Kingdom-based company that produces sustainable technologies or transgenic methodologies to stem the impact of disease-spreading insects. Talk also began ... |
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Non-GMO approach reduces cases of mosquito-borne dengue by 77%GM Watch, GM Watch, 2020.
A randomized field trial found that mosquitoes infected with a natural bacterium called Wolbachia reduced cases of dengue by an "extraordinary" 77%. |
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An accident waiting to happen: Tech company to release 750 MILLION GMO mosquitoes in Florida to fight dengue feverZ. Sky, NEWSTARGET, 2020.
Oxitec plans to release 750 million OX5034s into the Florida Keys, something that sounds like the beginning of a doomed science-fiction movie. But the most shocking thing here is the fact that Oxitec received the EPA’s approval in May. |
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Genetically-modified mosquito plan offers hope for Keys, worldP. Goodman, keynews.com, 2020.
The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District Board of Commissioners voted 4-to-1 to approve a trial using Oxitec’s second-generation genetically modified mosquitoes. I |
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Bacteria-Laced Mosquitoes Limit Spread of DengueA. Heidt, The Scientist, 2020.
Researchers have infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes—the species responsible for passing on many diseases—with bacteria called Wolbachia with the intent of reducing the insects’ ability to pass on dengue to people. |
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The good mosquito versus the badD. Datta, Business Standard, 2020.
Starting 2021, around 750 million genetically modified (GM) Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes will be released in batches into the Florida Keys. |
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Florida Will Release 750 Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to Stop Disease SpreadA. Fahmy, verywell health, 2020.
The hope is to prevent the spread of Dengue fever, a painful virus acquired only by mosquito bite which made a reappearance in the Florida Keys in 2009. |
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Scientists infect mosquitoes with bacteria to stop the transmission of dengue fever in Indonesia, dropping infection rates by 77 percentD. Avery, Daily Mail, 2020.
The team found that dengue infections were 77 percent lower in treated neighborhoods, compared to areas not exposed to the infected insects. |
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The mosquito strategy that could eliminate dengueE. Callaway, Nature, 2020.
The study, conducted in an Indonesia city, showed that releasing mosquitoes modified to carry a bacterium called Wolbachia, which stops the insects from transmitting some viruses, led to a steep drop in cases of dengue fever. |
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Researchers Find New Approach To Control Dengue, Zika By Genetically Modifying MosquitoesN. Sharma, R. Republicworld.com, 2020.
A new study carried out in Indonesia has shown that dengue infection rates decreased in regions where the genetically modified mosquitoes were introduced. |
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Australian research takes aim at dengue, another killer virusE. Connors, Finanacial Review, 2020.
Australian researchers have teamed up with Indonesian philanthropists to strike a blow against dengue fever, the deadly disease that was a growing scourge in south-east Asia and South America long before COVID-19. |
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Australian scientists slash dengue fever in Indonesia by infecting mosquitoes with bacteriaA. Barker, ABC News, 2020.
Australian scientists may have found the secret to eradicating dengue fever, with a lengthy trial in Indonesia drastically reducing the incidence of the mosquito-borne virus. |
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Deep dive: Florida’s GM mosquito experiment aims to rewrite rules of vector-borne diseasesS. Kannan, India Today, 2020.
A pathbreaking bioengineering experiment on mosquito populations that could have massive implications for tropical malaria-affected countries like India has got underway in Florida, US. |
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Fighting mosquito-borne diseases… with mosquitoesN. Gubert and A. Baubeau, Phys Org, 2020.
For decades, researchers have scratched their heads over how to combat deadly mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever. |
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Bug board OKs release of genetically modified mosquitoesT. O'Hara, keynews.com, 2020.
After nearly 10 years of debate, the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District board has approved an agreement with biotech company Oxitec to conduct a test release of genetically modified mosquitoes in Monroe County as part of a mosquito limiting or eradication plan. |
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Genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in the Florida Keys to combat dengue, zika, and yellow fever.Yucatan Times, Yucatan Times, 2020.
The Florida Keys will be the scene of the first test in the United States with genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, an alternative to insecticides and larvicides to end the transmission of diseases such as dengue, zika and yellow fever that has always been surrounded ... |
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Transgenic moths released to end one of the worst pests on the planetB. Mandalia, Pledge Times, 2020.
Today the results of the first open field experiment with another of the creations of this biotechnology company are published. It is a variant of the moth Plutella xylostella which is one of the worst agricultural pests in the world. |
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750 million genetically modified mosquitoes soon released in the wild!explica, explica, 2020.
Rather frightening mosquitoes will be released on an archipelago in Florida. The goal? Reduce the population of their more dangerous congeners who can transmit certain diseases. |
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US to Use Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to Fight Dengue FeverH. Badr, Asharq Al-Awsat, 2020.
After a decade of discussions, officials in Florida have voted to allow the first test in the United States of free-flying, genetically modified mosquitoes that kill any female offspring, as a way to fight the pests and the diseases they spread. |
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Florida Keys to Use Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to Fight DiseaseB. Lynn, Voice of America, 2020.
Officials in the Florida Keys plan to release genetically modified mosquitoes next year in an effort to fight insect-borne diseases. |
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Florida Approves Controversial Plan to Release 750 Million Genetically Modified MosquitoesD. Rakshit, Swaddle, 2020.
Authorities in Florida have approved a pilot project that will release 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes locally, in a bid to reduce the populations of mosquitoes that cause that cause dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever |
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Mutant bugs released to fight diseaseThe Day, The Day, 2020.
Authorities have approved the scheme in Florida but environmental groups are furious, calling it a “Jurassic Park experiment” that will unleash a “mutant bug” into the ecosystem. |
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More than 750 million GMO mosquitoes to be released over Florida Keys – what could go wrong?E. Huff, Natural News, 2020.
The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) has given Oxitec, a corporation we have reported on in the past, permission to unleash some 750 million GMO mosquitos in Monroe County, Florida, over the next two years. |
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Florida to release genetically modified mosquitoes to prevent diseases like ZikaThe West News, The West News, 2020.
Local authorities on Tuesday gave final approval to release 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys over a two-year period, starting in 2021. |
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Genetically modified mosquitoes have been OK’d for a first U.S. test flightS. Milius, ScienceNews, 2020.
After a decade of fits and starts, officials in the Florida Keys have voted to allow the first test in the United States of free-flying, genetically modified mosquitoes as a way to fight the pests and the diseases they spread. |
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Florida Will Release Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to Fight Disease in the KeysS. Harrell, Spectrum News, 2020.
Following lengthy federal and state procedures, the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District this week approved a plan to release more than 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes in the Keys region to combat an invasive, disease-carrying species of the insect. |
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Florida is releasing 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes into the world. Here’s whyH. Schriber, Deseret News, 2020.
Florida officials plan to release 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes into the Florida Keys over the next two years as a way to prevent diseases like the Zika virus. The project will begin in 2021. The Environment Protection Agency approved the idea in May. The project ... |
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Genetically Modified Mosquitoes To Be Released In Florida KeysA. Snow, The Daily Wire, 2020.
CNN reported that the genetically modified bugs, called OX5034, have been “altered to produce female offspring that die in the larval stage, well before hatching and growing large enough to bite and spread disease.” Since it’s the female of the species that bite, they are ... |
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Release 750 Million Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Into the Wild, They SaidC. Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 2020.
Corporate scientists have received final approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to release hundreds of millions of genetically altered mosquitoes into the Florida Keys. The goal? To begin reining in the mosquito population, which is only expected to increase as ... |
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Florida releasing genetically modified mosquitoes to prevent diseases like ZikaN. Lanese, LiveScience, 2020.
Hundreds of millions of genetically modified mosquitoes will soon be released in the Florida Keys island chain to wipe out local populations of disease-carrying mosquitoes, according to news reports. |
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750 Million GM Mosquitoes Will Be Released in the Florida KeysL. Winter, The Scientist, 2020.
With the aim of reducing rates of the mosquito-borne illnesses yellow fever and dengue, a pilot program will release 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes into the Florida Keys in 2021, thanks to approval by the barrier islands’ Mosquito Control District Board of ... |
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Hundreds Of Millions Of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Approved For Release In USJ. Vibes, Anonymous News, 2020.
A Biotech company called Oxitec has received permission from the government to release hundreds of millions of genetically modified male mosquitoes in the Florida Keys. |
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Why Hundreds of Millions of Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes Will Soon Be Released in FloridaK. Gander, Newsweek, 2020.
Hundreds of millions of genetically engineered mosquitoes will soon be released in Florida, in a first for the U.S. On Tuesday, the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) approved plans to release the insects, who do not bite, as part of a pilot project launching next ... |
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Florida to release genetically modified mosquitoes, detractors blast ‘Jurassic Park’ experimentD. Aaro, Fox News, 2020.
Local authorities on Tuesday gave final approval to release 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys over a two-year period, starting in 2021, with the hope of preventing diseases such as the Zika virus but has faced blowback and comparisons to a Steven ... |
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750 million genetically modified mosquitoes to be released across Florida KeysA. Zahid, Sky News, 2020.
Authorities have approved plans for genetically modified mosquitoes to be released across the Florida Keys from next year. British-based firm Oxitec has designed the project to test whether the altered mosquitoes are a viable alternative to pesticides to control and prevent the ... |
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750 million GM mosquitos set for release in Florida Keys.Editorial Staff, E&T, 2020.
Local authorities have approved proposals to release hundreds of millions of genetically modified (GM) modified mosquitos in Florida, in an effort to control populations of diseases spread by the organism. |
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Florida Plans to Fix Its Mosquito Problem With 750 Million More MosquitoesD. Noor, Gizmodo, 2020.
Hundreds of millions of mosquitos will soon be released in Florida. On purpose. The mosquitoes are being released as a form of pest control, but they could wreak havoc on local ecosystems. |
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Florida mosquitoes: 750 million genetically modified insects to be releasedBBC, BBC, 2020.
Local officials in Florida have approved the release of 750 million mosquitoes that have been genetically modified to reduce local populations. The aim is to reduce the number of mosquitoes that carry diseases like dengue or the Zika virus. |
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Florida OKs release of genetically modified mosquitoes in Keys to slow insect disease spreadS. Mann, Just the News, 2020.
Florida officials are authorizing a biotech company to release hundreds of millions of genetically-modified male mosquitoes into the Florida Keys to reduce future mosquito populations that spread diseases including yellow fever and malaria. |
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Florida Keys to release modified mosqutioes to fight illnessC. Anderson, Associated Press, 2020.
Sometime next year, genetically modified mosquitoes will be released in the Florida Keys in an effort to combat persistent insect-borne diseases such as Dengue fever and the Zika virus. The plan approved this week by the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District calls for a pilot ... |
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Florida to Release Millions of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Against Local Residents’ WishesN. Rice, People, 2020.
A plan to release over 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys has received final approval. According to CNN, on Tuesday, local authorities approved a plan to release the genetically modified mosquitoes in the Sunshine State's string of islands, with the ... |
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Plan to Release 750M GMO Mosquitoes Gets Go AheadR. Quinn, newser, 2020.
The plan to release the genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes received final approval from local authorities Tuesday, causing an outcry from groups opposed to what they call a "Jurassic Park experiment," CNN reports. |
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‘A Jurassic Park Experiment’: Watchdog Groups Denounce Decision to Release Genetically Modified Mosquitoes in FloridaL. Newcomb, Common Dreams, 2020.
Food safety and environmental groups Wednesday condemned a decision by officials in Florida to approve the release of 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes, a pilot project aimed at reducing the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. |
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Florida Keys to release 750M genetically modified mosquitoesD. Haynes, UPI, 2020.
Local authorities in the Florida Keys gave their approval Wednesday to a plan to release genetically modified mosquitoes to prevent the spread of dengue fever and other diseases. The Monroe County Mosquito Control District signed off on the project, which would release about 750 ... |
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FKMCD Board Approves Oxitec PilotC. Huff, FKMCD in the News, 2020.
The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District’s (FKMCD) five member board has APPROVED a proposal by Oxitec to utilize non-biting male, genetically modified mosquitoes as part of a trial to determine their effectiveness in controlling the wild population of Aedes aegypti, the ... |
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To combat disease-spreading mosquitoes in the Keys, leaders vote to unleash lab bugsD. Goodhue, Miami Herald, 2020.
Florida Keys officials have voted to allow the experimental release of millions of genetically modified mosquitoes into a yet-to-be-decided area of the island chain. |
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Incorporating Characteristics of Gene Drive Engineered Ae. aegypti as Methods to Reduce Dengue and Zika Virus into the Bayesian Network – Relative Risk Model, Using Ponce, Puerto Rico as a Case StudyS. R. Eikenbary, WWU Graduate School Collection, 2020.
The Bayesian network relative risk model can perform the risk assessment of gene drive engineered Ae. aegypti for vector control and as part of an adaptive management strategy to reduce dengue and Zika transmission. This study illustrates how the BN-RRM can integrate gene drive ... |
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Modeling the suppression dynamics of Aedes mosquitoes with mating inhomogeneityM. Huang and L. Hu, Journal of Biological Dynamics, 14:656-678. 2020.
In this work, we introduce a delay differential equation model with mating inhomogeneity to discuss mosquito population suppression based on Wolbachia. Our analyses show that the wild mosquitoes could be eliminated if either the adult mortality rate exceeds the threshold δ∗A ... |
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Nix alone is sufficient to convert female Aedes aegypti into fertile males and myo-sex is needed for male flightA. Aryan, M. A. E. Anderson, J. K. Biedler, Y. M. Qi, J. M. Overcash, A. N. Naumenko, M. V. Sharakhova, C. H. Mao, Z. N. Adelman and Z. J. Tu, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117:17702-17709. 2020.
Here, we report the generation of multiple transgenic lines that express Nix under the control of its own promoter. Genetic and molecular analyses of these lines provided insights unattainable from previous transient experiments. We show that the Nix transgene alone, in the ... |
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Why are scientists creating genetically modified mosquitoes?The Week Staff, The Week, 2020.
The Week Staff. The Week (2020). Scientists plan to release altered mosquitoes designed to sabotage the species' ability to reproduce. Is this safe? Here's everything you need to know: |
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Tackling Dengue fever by turning female mosquitoes into malesT. Sandle, DIGTAL JOURNAL, 2020.
T. Sandle (2020). DIGTAL JOURNAL Genetic engineering appears to be the key for delivering mosquito control, according to new research. Scientists have successfully converted female mosquitoes into non-biting males. |
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Florida Keys delays vote on release of 750 million genetically engineered mosquitoes after public outcryD. Dukule, Friends of the Earth, 2020.
The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) today delayed its vote on the proposed release of genetically engineered (GE) mosquitoes due to concerns over COVID-19. The decision to delay the vote follows public outcry and scientific dispute over the risks posed to public ... |
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EPA approves field trials of genetically modified mosquitoA. Wernick, WBFO npr, 2020.
The Environmental Protection Agency has given biotech company Oxitec the go-ahead to test the effectiveness of genetically modified mosquitoes in parts of Florida and Texas. Oxitec has been developing genetically modified mosquitoes in hopes of reducing local populations of ... |
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Artificial Selection Finds New Hypotheses for the Mechanism of Wolbachia-Mediated Dengue Blocking in MosquitoesS. A. Ford, I. Albert, S. L. Allen, S. F. Chenoweth, M. Jones, C. Koh, A. Sebastian, L. T. Sigle and E. A. McGraw, Frontiers in Microbiology, 11:1456. 2020.
We recently used experimental evolution to reveal that Wolbachia-mediated dengue blocking could be selected upon in the A. aegypti host and showed evidence that strong levels of blocking could be maintained by natural selection. In this study, we investigate the genetic variation ... |
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Field performance of sterile male mosquitoes released from an uncrewed aerial vehicleJ. Bouyer, N. J. Culbert, A. H. Dicko, M. G. Pacheco, J. Virginio, M. C. Pedrosa, L. Garziera, A. T. M. Pinto, A. Klaptocz, J. Germann, T. Wallner, G. Salvador-Herranz, R. A. Herrero, H. Yamada, F. Balestrino and M. J. B. Vreysen, Science Robotics, 5:10. 2020.
Genetic control methods of mosquito vectors of malaria, dengue, yellow fever, and Zika are becoming increasingly popular due to the limitations of other techniques such as the use of insecticides. The sterile insect technique is an effective genetic control method to manage ... |
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EPA faces suit over plan to release genetically engineered mosquitoesR. Frazin, The Hill, 2020.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is facing a lawsuit over its approval of a plan to release genetically modified mosquitoes in Florida and Texas |
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EPA Grants First Permit to Test Genetically Modified MosquitoesAdam Allington, Bloomberg Law, 2020.
British biotech company Oxitec Ltd was granted an experimental use permit to release a genetically engineered type of the mosquito species Aedes aegypti, which is a known vector of Zika virus and viruses that cause yellow fever and dengue fever, the Environmental Protection ... |
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EPA Approves Experimental Use Permit to Test Innovative Biopesticide Tool to Better Protect Public HealthEPA, EPA, 2020.
Today, after extensive evaluation of the best available science and public input, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted an experimental use permit (EUP) to Oxitec Ltd. to field test the use of genetically engineered Aedes aegypti mosquitoes as a way to reduce ... |
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Efficient production of male Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes enables large-scale suppression of wild populationsJ. E. Crawford, D. W. Clarke, V. Criswell, M. Desnoyer, D. Cornel, B. Deegan, K. Gong, K. C. Hopkins, P. Howell, et al., Nature Biotechnology, 38:482-492. 2020.
The range of the mosquito Aedes aegypti continues to expand, putting more than two billion people at risk of arboviral infection. The sterile insect technique (SIT) has been used to successfully combat agricultural pests at large scale, but not mosquitoes, mainly because of ... |
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Editorial Expression of Concern: Transgenic Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes Transfer Genes into a Natural PopulationB. R. Evans, P. Kotsakiozi, A. L. Costa-Da-Silva, R. S. Ioshino, L. Garziera, M. C. Pedrosa, A. Malavasi, J. F. Virginio, M. L. Capurro and J. R. Powell, Scientific Reports, 10:2. 2020.
Shortly after publication of this Article in September 2019, the Editors were alerted to concerns regarding the interpretation of the data and some of the conclusions. |
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Establishment of Wolbachia Strain wAlbB in Malaysian Populations of Aedes aegypti for Dengue ControlW. A. Nazni, A. A. Hoffmann, A. NoorAfizah, Y. L. Cheong, M. V. Mancini, N. Golding, G. M. R. Kamarul, M. A. K. Arif, H. Thohir, H. NurSyamimi, M. Z. ZatilAqmar, M. NurRuqqayah, A. NorSyazwani, A. Faiz, F.-R. M. N. Irfan, S. Rubaaini, N. Nuradila, N. M. N, Current Biology, 29:4241-4248.e5. 2019.
Dengue has enormous health impacts globally. A novel approach to decrease dengue incidence involves the introduction of Wolbachia endosymbionts that block dengue virus transmission into populations of the primary vector mosquito, Aedes aegypti. The wMel Wolbachia strain has ... |
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Transgenic Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes Transfer Genes into a Natural PopulationB. R. Evans, P. Kotsakiozi, A. L. Costa-da-Silva, R. S. Ioshino, L. Garziera, M. C. Pedrosa, A. Malavasi, J. F. Virginio, M. L. Capurro and J. R. Powell, Scientific Reports, 9:6. 2019.
We genotyped the release strain and the target Jacobina population before releases began for >21,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Genetic sampling from the target population six, 12, and 27-30 months after releases commenced provides clear evidence that portions of the ... |
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Engineered action at a distance: Blood-meal-inducible paralysis in Aedes aegyptiR. E. Haghighat-Khah, T. Harvey-Samuel, S. Basu, O. StJohn, S. Scaife, S. Verkuijl, E. Lovett and L. Alphey, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 13:e0007579. 2019.
Here we demonstrate that it is possible to engineer ‘non-cell autonomous’ effectors–that is where the effect (e.g. the action of a toxic protein) can act on cells distant from the tissues in which they are originally expressed. To achieve this we utilised the endogenous ... |
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Engineered resistance to Zika virus in transgenic Aedes aegypti expressing a polycistronic cluster of synthetic small RNAsBuchman, AG, S.; Li, M.; Antoshechkin, I.; Li, H. H.; Wang, H. W.; Chen, C. H.; Klein, M. J.; Duchemin, J. B.; Paradkar, P. N.; Akbari, O. S., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116:3656-3661. 2019.
Recent Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreaks have highlighted the necessity for development of novel vector control strategies to combat arboviral transmission, including genetic versions of the sterile insect technique, artificial infection with Wolbachia to reduce population size and/or ... |
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Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Probably Headed to Florida Keys to Fight ZikaT. Elfrink, Miami New Times, 2016.
The bad news: Zika is coming to Florida. This past Friday, two new cases of the virus linked to serious birth defects were reported in the state, and scientists believe it could spread rapidly come summer as mosquito populations explode. And we're still a long way away from a ... |
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Back to the future: the sterile insect technique against mosquito disease vectorsR. S. Lees, J. R. L. Gilles, J. Hendrichs, M. J. B. Vreysen and K. Bourtzis, Current Opinion in Insect Science, 10:156-162. 2015.
With the global burden of mosquito-borne diseases increasing, and some conventional vector control tools losing effectiveness, the sterile insect technique (SIT) is a potential new tool in the arsenal. Equipment and protocols have been developed and validated for efficient ... |
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Sterility introduced by release of genetically altered males to a domestic population of Aedes aegypti at the Kenya coastP. T. McDonald, W. Hausermann and N. Lorimer, Am J Trop Med Hyg, 26:553-61. 1977.
A decade ago the concept of the sterile insect release method (SIRM) of control was generally limited to the induction of sterility through either radiation or chemical treatment. Since then the concept of genetic control has broadened to in dude the SIRM of natural sterility as ... |
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Sterility introduced by release of genetically altered males to a domestic population of Aedes aegypti at the Kenya coastP. T. McDonald, W. Hausermann and N. Lorimer, Am J Trop Med Hyg, 26:553-61. 1977.
The release of males heterozygous for one or two sex-linked translocations was effective in introducing a high level of sterility into a domestic population of Aedes aegypti at a Rabai village. The effect of the releases continued for several weeks after the release period. Male ... |
