More

    Female Mosquito Targeted With Venom to Curb Disease

    FeaturesFemale Mosquito Targeted With Venom to Curb Disease
    - Advertisment -

    Female Mosquito Targeted With Venom to Curb Disease

    Scientists have developed a genetic biocontrol method to reduce the lifespan of the female Aedes aegypti mosquito that spread disease by engineering male insects to transfer venom to females when mating, in turn, reducing the female mosquito’s lifespan.

    By Dann Okoth

    A genetic biocontrol method which reduces the lifespan of female insects could work as fast as pesticides to reduce populations of disease-spreading mosquitoes and destructive crop pests, according to researchers.

    Insect pests pose a huge threat to global health and agriculture, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths, millions of infections, and costing billions in healthcare and crop damage each year.

    Biocontrol is increasingly seen as a viable alternative to pesticides, which can harm non-target species and ecosystems and are losing efficacy as resistance to them grows.

    A new approach called Toxic Male Technique (TMT), developed by researchers at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology at Macquarie University, Australia, involves genetically engineering male insects to reduce the lifespan of the females they mate with.

    - Advertisement -

    Researchers say it can be used to respond rapidly to outbreaks of agricultural pests as well as to fight mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue and Zika.

    “We hold that our technology has the potential of working as fast as pesticides without the attendant risks of harming other species and the environment,” says Samuel Beach a researcher in applied biosciences at Macquarie University and lead author of the study, published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

    According to Beach, the approach is more efficient than existing methods such as the Sterile Insect Technique or the release of insects carrying lethal genes, which work by releasing masses of sterilised or genetically modified males to mate with wild females.

    With these techniques, the mated females produce no offspring or only male offspring, but they continue to blood-feed and spread disease until they die naturally — meaning populations of biting females only decrease when the next generation emerges.

    “TMT is cheaper because you need fewer males to get much faster reduction in insect population or spread of diseases,” Beach explains.

    Venom proteins

    The new technique works by genetically engineering male insects to produce insect-specific venom proteins in their semen. When these males mate with females, the proteins are transferred, significantly reducing the females’ lifespan and their ability to spread disease.

    The researchers found that mating females with the genetically engineered males reduced their lifespan by 60 per cent.

    “Ideally, we’re looking at 100 per cent reduction in lifespan—that’s the females die as soon as they mate with the male,” Beach told SciDev.Net. “But that’s what we want to achieve long term, that’s going to take some time.”

    Even the 60 per cent reduction could go a long way towards reducing the impact of mosquito-borne diseases, he adds.

    Diseases such as malaria, dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever are spread by the females of the Aedes aegypti and Anopheles gambiae species of mosquito.

    Beach explains that when female mosquito blood feeds, contracting the virus from a host, she is not infectious for a couple of days. For a period of five to ten days, she cannot spread the disease to another person.

    “That means we don’t need to achieve 100 per cent mortality, we just need to reduce her lifespan within this period of time where she can’t spread that disease to a second person, which we estimate to be about 60 to 80 per cent reduction in lifespan,” says Beach.

    The technology could work even better for farmers, according to the researchers, since crop pests have longer lifespans than mosquitos—up to a year or two, compared to three to four weeks.

    “Because the generational term is so long, if we can kill the female sooner that’s going to have a much bigger benefit for agricultural pests,” adds Beach.

    Operational costs

    Tonny Owalla, a researcher at Med Biotech Laboratories Kampala, Uganda, who was not involved in the study, believes engineering male mosquitoes to reduce the population of female malaria carriers could be a useful approach.

    However, he cautions that the costs of deploying it may make the technology impractical for routine use in malaria endemic countries.

    “Take for instance, how many male mosquitoes one would deploy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is the leading malaria endemic country in Africa, how many rounds of release per year, infrastructure, source of mosquito supply…” says Owalla.

    Beach says the technology must go through rigorous safety tests before being adopted, while regulatory frameworks to guide its use and infrastructure to breed mosquitoes are also needed.

    “In a few a few years, though, we are certain our technology will provide millions of people across the world with a sustainable solution for disease and crop pest control,” he adds.

    This piece has been sourced from SciDev.Net

    - Advertisement -

    LEAVE A REPLY

    Please enter your comment!
    Please enter your name here

    Latest news

    India Among Six Most Affected Countries by Extreme Weather Events

    The long-term assessment of the CRI 2025, covering data from 1993 to 2022, places India as the sixth most affected country globally due to extreme weather events. Over this period, India reported a staggering loss of 80,000 lives and economic damages amounting to $200 billion.

    Calculated, Coordinated Crackdown – UN Report Uncovers Systematic Repression in Bangladesh Protests

    The mass mobilisation saw participation from people across different backgrounds, including women and children. Faced with this growing opposition, the former government resorted to increasingly violent means to maintain power. The UN report describes a deliberate strategy orchestrated at the highest levels of the former administration.

    Adani Green Energy Withdraws from $1 Billion Wind Power Project in Sri Lanka

    There has been a raging debate in Sri Lanka on the deal, citing it as an expensive deal. The earlier government had agreed to purchase power from Adani’s 484-megawatt wind power project at a rate of 8.26 US cents per unit under a 20-year power purchase agreement.

    IMF Chief Reaffirms Support for Pakistan’s Reforms in Meeting with Shehbaz Sharif

    Georgieva praised Pakistan’s efforts in implementing the IMF-supported program, acknowledging the country’s improving economic performance with rising growth and declining inflation. She recognized Pakistan’s economic recovery and noted that it is on a positive trajectory.
    - Advertisement -

    In the Lok Sabha: Government Reports Significant Progress on Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

    Eligible projects include warehouses, silos, cold chains, logistics facilities, and smart precision agriculture infrastructure. Loan applicants must contribute at least 10 per cent of the project cost, and an entity can apply for up to 25 projects, each eligible for a loan of up to Rs. 2 crore.

    In the Lok Sabha: Over 68,000 Lakes Constructed as Part of Mission Amrit Sarovar

    With the successful completion of more than 68,000 Sarovars ahead of schedule, the government has now launched the second phase of Mission Amrit Sarovar. This phase will emphasise ensuring sustainable water availability and climate resilience, with community participation (Jan Bhagidari) being the core focus.

    Must read

    India Among Six Most Affected Countries by Extreme Weather Events

    The long-term assessment of the CRI 2025, covering data from 1993 to 2022, places India as the sixth most affected country globally due to extreme weather events. Over this period, India reported a staggering loss of 80,000 lives and economic damages amounting to $200 billion.

    Calculated, Coordinated Crackdown – UN Report Uncovers Systematic Repression in Bangladesh Protests

    The mass mobilisation saw participation from people across different backgrounds, including women and children. Faced with this growing opposition, the former government resorted to increasingly violent means to maintain power. The UN report describes a deliberate strategy orchestrated at the highest levels of the former administration.
    - Advertisement -

    More from the sectionRELATED
    Recommended to you