Suicide mosquitoes can prevent the spread of Zika virus

In 2016, the World Health Organization named Zika virus epilepsy as a “public health emergency of international concern” because the virus causes birth defects in pregnant women as well as brain disorders. Since then, researchers have come up with different strategies to control the spread of Zika virus, which is transmitted to humans from female mosquito bites.

One approach, approved by the Environmental Protection Agency in May, will allow more than 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes into the Florida Keys in 2021 and 2022. The “mosquito mosquitoes” that is genetically modified to children who die before they turn into adults. so they cannot bite people and spread disease.

However, the eradication of future generations of mosquitoes can lead to environmental problems, such as disturbance of food chains. A new research study at the University of Missouri offers another option: genetic modification of mosquitoes to completely combat Zika virus.

Alexander Franz, an associate professor at MU College of Medicine, collaborated with researchers at Colorado State University in using CRISPR gene editing technology to produce mosquitoes that cannot reproduce a replica of Zika virus and so cannot capture humans by being bitten.

We genetically manipulated these mosquitoes by inserting an artificial gene into their genome that stimulates one of the immune pathways in the midge to identify and destroy the RNA genome of Zika virus. By developing these mosquitoes that are resistant to the virus, the cycle of infection will be stopped so that they can no longer be transmitted to humans. “

Alexander Franz, Associate Professor, MU College of Medicine

Franz said that genetic modification is hereditary, so future generations of the modified mosquitoes would be resistant to the Zika virus as well.

“We are interested in strategies to control insect vectors such as mosquitoes that transmit various viruses that affect human health,” Franz said. “Public health experts suggest that there will be a toolbox with different methods available to deal with viruses such as Zika, and unfortunately at the moment there are not many options. Vaccination for the Zika virus is not widely available and insecticide spraying has been ineffective since the mosquitoes can develop. struggle, so we are just trying to expand the toolbox and provide a solution by genetically modifying the mosquitoes to be resistant to Zika and keep them alive at the same time. “

Franz’s research is designed to help prevent another outbreak of Zika virus infection.

“If you can ever find a way to prevent the spread of a pathogen that harms humans, that’s good news,” Franz said. “We have shown that this is an operational option for genetically modified mosquitoes in a laboratory setting. There had to be detailed discussions about regulatory compliance to see if this could be an out-of-the-field solution. the road, and who knows when another Zika may have a future revolution, which is why this research is so important. “