Nanoparticles prevent mosquitoes from reproducing

Indian scientists have succeeded in preventing mosquito growth with a simple, environmentally friendly and easy-to-produce carbon nanoparticle mixture. This solution may be the long-awaited answer to the prevention of disease from mosquitoes - the reason why nearly 2 million people die each year worldwide.

With high adaptability, mosquitoes can survive almost any environment, except in extremely cold regions. Mosquitoes are not only an annoying insect but also an infectious agent of many dangerous diseases, including malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, encephalitis.

A series of measures to prevent the reproduction of mosquitoes have been used such as minimizing stagnant water environments where they spawn, bringing mosquito killer species such as dragonflies into the ecosystem . but the implementation is not simple and also not optimal.

Mosquitoes lay eggs in stagnant water, from which the larvae were born.(Photo: RSC - SHUTTERSTOCK)

Professor Sabyasachi Sarkar and inorganic chemists at the Bengal-India University of Science and Technology have found another solution by chance. To be able to photograph zebrafish after eating mosquitoes, scientists used a solution of carbon nanoparticles (wsCNPs) on mosquitoes. Observe that it seems that wsCNPs slow down the development of the larval development.

After extensive research, Professor Sarkar and colleagues demonstrated that with 3mg of wsCNPs per liter of water, larvae cannot mature into mosquitoes, leading to their complete destruction. Also at this concentration, wsCNPs do not affect the environment. Moreover, wsCNPs can survive in stagnant water for months, not being lost as other insecticides.

This type of carbon nanoparticle can be produced by burning wood chips in a low oxygen environment, rinsing and adding nitric acid.'It is a process that can be easily expanded. The government's mosquito-killing program should test this method, especially where the drainage system is not good. ' - Professor Sarkar proposed.

Now Sarkar's team is actively investigating how this carbon nanoparticle affects the maturity of mosquitoes, and examines their long-term effects on the environment.