The researchers at University of California Irvine (UCI) in collaboration with University of Oxford and Oxitec Ltd. created a new breed of mosquitoes by disrupting the development of the male insect’s wing muscle, mating it with wild female insect which rendered the offspring incapable of flying and spreading the disease.
Vector biologist, Anthony James, professor of microbiology, molecular genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry at UCI, said, “Current dengue control methods are not sufficiently effective, and new ones are urgently needed.”
“Controlling the mosquito that transmits this virus could significantly reduce human morbidity and mortality. The dengue virus is spread through the bite of infected female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, and there is no vaccine or treatment,” added James.
The research was sponsored by Foundation for the National Institutes of Health.
Details of the study
To create a harmless species of the insect, the researchers genetically altered the male insect by disrupting the wing muscle and then released it to mate with wild female of the same species.
As a result of this mating, the off springs born were incapable of flying due to the genes
of the male insect, which cut-off normal wing growth. The male’s ability to fly was not affected though.
The results also revealed that if the new generation of mosquitoes is released, it could suppress the already existing mosquito population in six to nine months.
Advantages offered by the research
Collaborator in the study, Luke Alphey of Oxitec Ltd. said, “The technology is completely species-specific, as the released males will mate only with females of the same species.”
“Another attractive feature of this method is that its egalitarian-all people in the treated areas are equally protected, regardless of their wealth, power or education,” added Alphey.
The research also offers an alternative treatment to harmful insecticides, as it proposes to restrain the number of dengue-spreading mosquitoes without the use of any insecticides.
“This could be the first in a new wave of products that might supplant insecticides,” said James.
The present research relates to dengue-spreading mosquitoes, but this could be altered to curb malaria and West Nile fever spreading mosquitoes, concluded the researchers.
The study appears online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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