By: Dr. Ripudaman Singh (Special Correspondent-ICN Group) & Hemant Kumar ( Agriculture Correspondent-ICN Group)
NEW DELHI: Mosquitoes genetically engineered not to smell humans may offer a big relief to tourists who have seen their summer holidays ruined by itchy bites.
The mosquitoes which are most effective when it comes to transmitting disease are those that have become highly used to feeding on humans. Efforts to prevent the spread of malaria by killing mosquitoes with insecticides are proving problematic, because they quickly become resistant to the chemicals.
Now, the US Defense Department has awarded a grant of $1 million to two insect specialists, Andrew Nuss and Dennis Mathew to create genetically engineered mosquitoes which are not attracted to people.
The method involves identifying the smell receptors which mosquitores use to detect human flesh and switching them off, or replacing them with other smell receptors to make them attracted to other animals.
“Mosquitoes have become co-adapted to us because we live in these nice, concentrated cities where they can find lots of people to feed on,” Nuss said.“They preferentially feed on humans, and their odorant receptors may be attuned to human odors, specifically.
We want to tweak that system by either knocking out the receptors that re responsible for human feeding, or replacing them with receptors from other mosquito species that feed on other animals in the environment.
The scientist-duo claimed that the new-found process could break the human-mosquito-human transmission cycle. Unlike insecticides, which are designed to kill mosquitoes, this new technique will help prevent the spread of malaria and other disease without disrupting the food chain.
“Our research is an approach where the mosquitoes still get to survive in an environment just as long as they are not biting humans,” said Nuss.
