A recent article published in the New York Time highlighted an interesting genetic development. Scientists at Oxitec have developed genes in mosquitoes that kill their offspring before they reach the adult stage and thus before they can bite humans. They achieved this by creating a gene that kills the mosquito unless it has a supply of tetracycline. In labs they are bred and large populations are grown. Once mature; the males are released into the wild where the antibiotic is not available. The result in theory is that the bugs will bred before they die and pass this terminal gene onto their offspring.
There are still many worries about this pest treatment. Main problems include the releasing of only males. As the mosquito species used carries dengue fever there is worried that females accidentally released into the wild will cause a rise in this disease. Another worry is that the mosquitoes will develop a resistance to the gene in the wild and reverse its effects. I feel that while still in testing, this idea has serious potential for controlling a problem that plagues many parts of the world. It also has potential to be much more environmentally sound then conventional pesticides.
this article is very fascinating to find out that there is gene developed in mosquitoes where the kill their offspring before they can reach the adult stage or before they can bite humans.
ReplyDeleteMosquito control is very important in certain areas. In my town, the township sprays for mosquitoes every fall. Assuming that the pesticide is organic and not effective against humans, do you really want to breath in the pesticide anyway? Being able to control the offspring of new generations sounds like an excellent idea, hopefully it works.
ReplyDeleteI find this to be a great idea, except that I wonder what sort of impact this may have on the ecosystems where these mosquitoes live. If these mosquitoes are only living into their young adulthood, only long enough to reproduce, this means their populations should decline, yes? But what about other species that feed off of mosquitoes, if the mosquito population decreases wont this have an impact on them and therefore have larger reverberations throughout the ecosystem as a whole.
ReplyDelete@Michael Mucha
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. It may take a while to fully understand what impact these genetically-modified mosquitoes will have on the food chain, but the idea seems to be good.