Tuesday, April 30, 2019

The Only Bad Thing About Summer

An article was published by Science Daily, which summarizes a research study where a discovery was made which could save thousands of lives. The study was conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Arizona led by Jun Isoe. The report was published in PLoS Biology January 8th 2019. During this study, the researchers searched for genes which were exclusive to mosquitoes. To execute this task they utilized a technique known as bioinformatics. Through this process they discovered proteins which were unique to only mosquitoes. This was a crucial discovery due to the current pesticides on the market being non specific and killing off beneficial insects such as honey bees. 40 proteins were discovered, however only one contained the capability of effecting reproduction. They named this protein Eggshell Organizing Factor 1 (EOF-1). The name stemmed from its function during eggshell synthesis. RNA interference was used as a means of inhibiting this protein function which led to a unsuccessful eggshell formation resulting in death of the embryo. After further testing it was confirmed that the creation of a drug which targets EOF-1, would be an effective pesticide which could prevent the occurrence of diseases spread by mosquitoes.
It is safe to say we all hate mosquitoes. Unlike virtually any other insect, there are no friends lovers of mosquitoes. However, there is information which could pursued one to not wish to completely eradicate them. Although pests and even deadly to humans, certain plants and animals utilize mosquitoes for survival. That being said, I believe funding and research should be increased in this area especially for the purpose of eliminating the mosquitoes which are vectors for disease. 

5 comments:

  1. As much as I hate mosquitoes I don't think it would be a good idea to completely eradicate them. Just like any other living thing, when it becomes extinct it disrupts the food web. I do like the idea of at least getting rid of the mosquitoes carrying diseases or at least lessen the amount that are. More research does sound necessary but it would be nice to have pesticides that just target disease carrying mosquitoes and not all vegetation.

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  2. As much as I hate mosquitoes there has to be better ways. Preventing the spread of diseases is fantastic but not every mosquito is a carrier so further research would be interesting to see if someone could find a pesticide or treatment that targets only a certain disease carrying mosquito.

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  3. I agree with Matthew, perhaps it could be possible to get rid of only mosquitoes carrying certain illnesses. Wiping any living thing off the face of the earth is not the answer.

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  5. If the goal was not to get rid of mosquitoes, then why make pesticides in the first place. I think this is a great discovery since it will target only mosquitoes and not other species that are more beneficial, like bees. It is a fact that bees and other favorable bugs are dying, and non-specific pesticides are only contributing to this problem.

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