Research new mosquito killing methods

Being bitten by mosquitoes always makes us feel sharp, especially when the mosquito carries malaria, yellow fever, dengue or West Nile virus. But if researchers at the University of Arizona - Tucson found a method, one day the mosquito will kill itself when burning us.

Roger L. Miesfeld - in charge of the project, professor of biochemistry and molecular physiology at the University of Arizona's University of Science, and a member of BIO5 and Arizona Cancer Center - said: 'Our goal is to turn the female mosquito's meal into the last meal of her life.'

Also participating in the project are Patricia Y. Scaraffia, Guanhong Tuan, Jun Isoe, Vicki H. Wysocki - members of BIO5, and finally Michael A. Wells.

A female Aedes aegypty female is sucking blood from a man's arm.Only female mosquitoes smoke blood.(Photo: James Gathany, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA)

The researchers found an amazingly complex metabolic mechanism in Aedes aegypti. They are forced to excrete toxic nitrogen after smoking human blood. If the mosquito cannot excrete Nitrogen, it will not be able to lay eggs and will be sick and die. Scaraffia, assistant professor at Arizone University's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Physiology, and other team members published the results of January 15, 2008 in the Proceedings of the National Academy. of Sciences. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Miesfeld and his colleagues are looking for a molecule that is harmless to humans but can inhibit metabolism in mosquitoes, forcing each child to be unable to excrete nitrogen. That molecule will kill both the mosquito and its later descendants, thereby slowing the spread of the disease.

Once this molecule and other similar molecules are applied to other mosquitoes, we can study to introduce insecticides and spray on mosquito screens or mosquitoes hiding places like regions. standing water.

Researchers are also considering a drinking insecticide. People with yellow fever or malaria can take this pill to reduce the number of mosquitoes. The pill will not be a vaccine, if they take the medicine and then be infected by an infected mosquito, they will still be infected. However, the mosquito will smoke the drug with blood, making it less fertile or may die before burning another person.

Miesfeld said: 'Our whole community will become a giant mosquito trap'. Gradually, the number of mosquitoes and disease rates will decrease. 'Need to have the strength of the whole community for a long time to achieve great results'. In a world where both mosquitoes and their diseases are able to resist rapidly against mosquitoes as well as medicinal drugs, it is essential to find new solutions to fight them.

'There will certainly be measures to deal with diseases that cause millions of deaths every year'.