What is Dengue fever

Have you ever heard of dengue fever? It is a viral disease transmitted by a certain mosquitoes. It causes very high fevers and muscle pain. The dengue fever can be deadly in some cases, there was around 20,000 deaths last year. Researchers focused on the disease in Bangkok, mainly on the way the disease is spread. Researchers have come to conclusion that there is a pattern for the spreading of this virus. They found that nearly sixty percent of the fever cases within a 200 meter radius were closely related. Researchers will now use this information to map the location of the cases. They have found that if they know the person who is affected, they are a good indicator of where the new cases will occur. If they can map how the virus spreads this could further knowledge on how to kill the pathogen. Thailand is spraying to kill mosquitos to keep the infection rate low. Also researcher are looking for a vaccine for this virus. I have never heard of this virus so to learn about it is very cool. I did not know this was going on in Thailand, and to learn about it betters our knowledge incase this virus spreads here. 













Article: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/dengue-fever-spreads-neighborly-way

Related article: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673602099646

Engineered Mosquitoes Could Prevent Zika Virus

Can this test solve and prevent the spread of Zika Virus?

           The federal government has already placed these genetically engineered mosquitos to the test in a small area near Brazil and many other countries, which are suffering from this harmful virus. These genetically engineered insects contain a gene that will be distributed across these affected areas. The task that these insects will play will be using the harmful gene to kill the offspring of the affected mosquitos to stop the spread of the disease. Overall the release of these engineered mosquitos has shown a gradual decrease in the spread of Zika virus and has suppressed dengue fever in these areas.

           


Genetically Engineered Mosquito

Furthermore, these genetically engineered mosquitoes are developed by a British company called Oxitec, and they have developed these insects by inserting a gene that can help them mate with the female mosquitoes that contain the Zika virus. This will help prevent the Zika virus from spreading because if this mating is to occur the resulting offspring won't live till adulthood hence the Zika virus won't continue to spread.

On what basis, did the FDA approve this test to be committed?

To conclude, the decision for approval came soon after the FDA was given a 300 page report providing factual evidence of how the engineered mosquitoes behaved in the wild. And soon after it was said that they wouldn't establish themselves in the wild because they were programmed to die soon after completing their mission for the transmission of the gene to the affected offspring. 

*The report also stated the engineered mosquitoes wouldn't be a danger to the people of the area because it didn't contain a toxic that can be otherwise harmful. I believe that this step will help prevent the virus from spreading. The company should now decide to release these genetically modified mosquitoes into other affected areas to stop the spread of this Zika virus fast otherwise one area will be infiltrated with more mosquitoes that have obtained this virus than the surrounding areas that aren't as bad.





THESE MOSQUITOES ARE DESIGNED TO SELF-DESTRUCT

Mosquitoes infect 400 million people with dengue fever, are very resistant to insecticide, and primary bite humans. A company called Oxitec, has come up with a way to genetically modify them. By putting a certain synthetic DNA in them, the mosquitoes offspring will be unable to reach adulthood and therefore, unable to reproduce. It has been implemented in a few areas so far and showed great success (90% were wiped out). Oxitec is now waiting for approval to try it in the Florida Keys.

For the most part, I think this is a good idea. Dengue fever is spreading to more and more places, which is very dangerous. It is a good idea for scientists to start finding ways to prevent further spread of them. In the past, using insecticide was effective at first, but ended up resulting in super bugs that were resistant to it. This approach does not have that problem, and it has been very effective- 3x more effective than insecticide. On the other side, I am not sure if it is very ethical to genetically modify organisms and send them back into nature. We also do not know the long-term effects of it, so it is possible that negative effects could result later on. Mosquitoes have an ecological niche in nature, so if we get rid of them almost entirely, what effect would that have on the ecosystem?

Original Article

Related Article

Millions of genetically modified mosquitoes could be released in Florida Keys

Everyone, especially in those sweet, sweet South Jersey summers that we all miss now, has had to deal with the dreaded mosquito. They bite, and when they are out in full force at dusk, they can leave your entire body covered with itchy red bites. This is not the only problem however. They also carry a boatload of different diseases, and with the changing climate and increased trade by ship, these mosquitoes and certain diseases once only endemic to the tropics have begun their trek northward towards the United States. Dengue fever, and chikungunya have been reported in parts of southern Florida. West Nile virus has made an appearance in New Jersey as well. This problem could get much worse as climate warms, these diseases will continue to spread farther and farther north.

There is some hope however. This article explains more. A British biotech firm has developed a way to breed mosquitoes with genes from the e. coli bacteria, herpes simplex virus, coral, and cabbage. Apparently, this interesting gene cocktail is harmless to humans and other animals, but deadly to mosquito larva. This company then proposed to release only male non biting mosquitoes into a Florida neighborhood, with the hopes that they would breed with the native population females, in turn effectively killing most of the mosquito population in the next generation. Understandably, many residents do not feel comfortable about releasing a GMO that can bite them, in their neighborhood. My concern is that mosquitoes, even though a nuisance, are part of an already established food chain in which they play a part in. Bats, and other animals eat mosquitoes, and I am not sure how killing them off would affect local populations of their predators. The other concern is that female mosquitoes that are missed in the sorting process could bite people and pass on their modified genes to other organisms.

Before releasing any genetically modified mosquitoes, more research should be done to determine if  there could be any unintended consequences. Here is some more information on mosquitoes.

Target for Treating Dengue fever discovered

In a recent article, two papers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine researchers and colleagues may help scientist treatments or vaccines for Dengue disease, West Nile virus and yellow fever. Plus others. Dengue Fever is a disease caused by a mosquito. Jeffrey S. Kieft, associate professor of biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the School of Medicine and colleagues published articles in a journal, known as eLife and Science, explaining how flaviviruses produced a unique RNA molecule that leads to disease. He states in the journal that the viruses use a instruction encoded on a single strand of RNA to take over the infected cell and reproduce.The virus also exploits an enzyme that cells use to destroy the RNA to produce short stretches of that RNA to help the virus avoid the immune system. To discover the structure, the scientist used a technique called x-ray crystallography, which allowed them to determine the structure of individual molecules. With this, they hope to understand how the RNA found in many different flaviviruses thwart a powerful enzyme may help scientist develop treatments or vaccines.

Original article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140417191740.html
Secondary article: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs117/en/

Disease-fighters Disrupt Mosquito's Genes with Molecular Scissors

               

Used TALENs to change the eye color in mosquito's and removing part of the genetic code.
 Offspring had light colored eyes and confirms that the genetic code has been wiped out. 

 Scientists at Virginia Tech have successfully disrupted the genes that control eye color in mosquitoes. This procedure has been accomplished by using a genetic-engineering technique. This method relies on two specially designed proteins that belong to a class identified as transcription activator-like effector nucleases, TALENs  this can target DNA at a precise site in an organism’s genetic code. Zach Adelman, a Virginia Tech entomologist, refers to these TALENs as “a very, very fine-tuned pair of scissors”.

               

                  The Virginia Tech researchers had used a different approach with the TALENs. They did not modify the function of a gene; they intended to restrict a gene by cutting away at it. In this procedure, genetically engineered TALEN proteins were injected into the germ cells of mosquito embryos early in their development. The intention of this process was to interrupt the coding for the eye pigmentation that would be handed down to the next generation. When the mosquitoes gave birth to their offspring, a great percentage of the offspring had light-colored eyes rather than the typical black eyes. This lack of pigment has confirmed that the genetic code had been wiped out.

                Scientists want to identify the genetic mechanisms in mosquitoes that have a role in virus transmission. If they can find these mechanisms, they can design an altered set of molecular scissors to disrupt that genetic code. This can help the fight against mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever. They would be able to remove that part of the mosquito’s genetic code and wipe out that disease.

                I found this story to be very interesting. It amazes me how fast our technology has enhanced and expanded. Scientists can now alter the genetic codes of different animal and human cells. Instead of just editing the genomes, they can now remove the gene. After the gene is removed, the offspring will not have that gene and we can generally wipe out the things that can harm us. However, I feel that this could also become a problem. There are things that would benefit us if they are improved yet, I feel that this could make people want to improve and remove too much. Scientist should continue to strive for new and improved results and technologies. 

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/disease-fighters-disrupt-mosquitos-genes-molecular-scissors-1C9007366

http://www.planet-science.com/categories/over-11s/natural-world/2012/08/molecular-scissors.aspx