# 4375
While I’m mindful of the the Law of Unintended Consequences, which always seems positioned to remind mankind that it’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature, scientists have come up with a unique way – they believe – will help control mosquito borne Dengue fever.
Essentially, they plan to release genetically altered male Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes that would produce flightless female offspring, a trait not carried forward by the males.
Since female mosquitoes are the ones that bite and transmit Dengue, grounding them would go a long way towards reducing the disease.
Whether this sparks protests from `mosquito’s rights’ advocacy groups remains to be seen.
This report from the BBC.
'Lame' mosquitoes to stop dengue
The dengue virus is spread by infected female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
Scientists are breeding a genetically altered strain of mosquito in an effort to curb the spread of dengue fever.
The dengue virus is spread by the bite of infected female mosquitoes and there is no vaccine or treatment.
Experts say the illness affects up to 100 million people a year and threatens over a third of the world's population.
Scientists hope their genetically altered males will mate with females to create female offspring that will inherit a gene limiting wing growth.
The study is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The scientists say their approach offers a safe, efficient alternative to harmful insecticides and could be used to stop other diseases spread by mosquitoes, like malaria.
They estimate that if released, the new breed could sustainably suppress the native mosquito population in six to nine months.
For those who would like more than the BBC condensed version, here is the PNAS abstract, and a link to the entire open access article.
Female-specific flightless phenotype for mosquito control
Guoliang Fu Rosemary S. Lees Derric Nimmo Diane Aw Li Jin Pam Gray Thomas U. Berendonk Helen White-Cooper Sarah Scaife Hoang Kim Phuc Osvaldo Marinotti Nijole Jasinskiene Anthony A. James Luke Alphey
Abstract
Dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever are increasing public health problems with an estimated 50–100 million new infections each year. Aedes aegypti is the major vector of dengue viruses in its range and control of this mosquito would reduce significantly human morbidity and mortality. Present mosquito control methods are not sufficiently effective and new approaches are needed urgently.
A “sterile-male-release” strategy based on the release of mosquitoes carrying a conditional dominant lethal gene is an attractive new control methodology. Transgenic strains of Aedes aegypti were engineered to have a repressible female-specific flightless phenotype using either two separate transgenes or a single transgene, based on the use of a female-specific indirect flight muscle promoter from the Aedes aegypti Actin-4 gene.
These strains eliminate the need for sterilization by irradiation, permit male-only release (“genetic sexing”), and enable the release of eggs instead of adults. Furthermore, these strains are expected to facilitate area-wide control or elimination of dengue if adopted as part of an integrated pest management strategy.
