Creating mosquitoes that cannot transmit disease

Creating mosquitoes that cannot transmit disease is the way scientists kill dangerous infectious species but leave no consequences for ecological imbalance.

>>>Malaysia uses genetically modified mosquitoes to treat dengue fever

Dengue fever (also known as dengue fever ) is present in over 100 countries, popular in tropical countries. In our country, this disease appeared from the early 1980s, an average of 50,000 deaths per year, the death toll is often up to 40-60 people, especially children. The cause of dengue transmission is Aedes aegypti mosquito .

Mosquitoes that contain Wolbachia not only reduce the lifespan of mosquitoes but also kill viruses in mosquitoes. (Illustration).

Sleeping screen, spraying insecticide, using mosquito repellent, mosquito repellent, vaccination . are passive methods. Recent news shows that mosquitoes causing dengue fever start to be greasy with drugs, for example in Dak-lak, Gia Lai, the rate of mosquito death when spraying is only 28-44%. Wanting to completely destroy an organism is difficult, perhaps causing an ecological imbalance, bringing unpredictable consequences.

Mosquito lines lose the ability to transmit diseases

People have long thought of the method of poisoning poisoning , using mosquitoes to kill mosquitoes. For example, causing infertility for male mosquitoes to make female mosquitoes who do not follow, then kill themselves or recently genetically modify to create new mosquitoes, while still capable of transmitting the dengue virus but female mosquitoes (only female mosquitoes transmit the disease ) can't fly far.

However, a study has succeeded in causing Aedes aegypti to make them vulnerable to harm. Scientists at the University of Queensland, Australia have discovered a bacterium called Wolbachia that lives in fruit flies and some other insects but has not yet attacked mosquitoes.

They denatured them to put them in the ' lying ' Aedes aegypti so that the word could be beaten out. The results are interesting. Wolbachia not only prevents dengue virus and other pathogenic viruses from growing in mosquitoes but also reduces the lifespan of infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to half.

Dropping this infected mosquito into the environment, they will compete with new ' healthy ' mosquitoes in their survival and establish a new population that is no longer able to spread the disease. The infected male mosquitoes mate with the female mosquitoes, the eggs will become inflamed, not create the next generation. Moreover, normally it takes about 2 weeks for the virus to grow in the mosquito body, but it is very likely that it is not enough to spread the disease early . it ends the life.

Actual implementation

The research process of the scientists was enough and entered into the practical phase of application with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In this international project, Vietnam is involved. Experimental release of dengue-resistant mosquitoes is underway in Australia and will end at the end of 2011 to evaluate the results.

According to the Ministry of Health, by that time, Vietnam (along with Malaysia) will join. As expected, mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia will be released in Tri Nguyen village, Hon Mieu island, Khanh Hoa province.

It is a village with 611 households combined with more than 2,300 people. This location is quite convenient for testing because it is far from the mainland, isolated for mosquito populations and every year many people suffer from dengue fever because people on the island often store fresh water in the jar. gradually. This is where Aedes aegypti mosquitoes normally lay eggs and survive year after year.

Of course, to prevent possible risks when releasing new species into the environment, careful consideration should be given to the application of strict biosafety regulations. Assuming that the results are not as satisfactory, it will be easy to handle in time because Hon Mieu Island lays in the middle of the sea.