Scientist demand for ‘horny’ mosquitos

STRAP: To overcome these drug-resistant mosquitoes, scientists are now trying to devise ways to eliminate them by out-breeding them.

NP NEWS 24 ONLINE:   Mosquitoes are menaces for the society. The number of people who have died after being bitten by them throughout human history remains a mystery. Though some researchers argue that mosquitoes have killed at least half the number of people who ever lived on this planet. Others claim that the number of deaths caused by mosquitoes is greater than that in all wars fought in history.

Many brilliant minds around the world have tried to eliminate them. So far, the global practice has been to use ever more effective drugs (insecticides and mosquito repellents) against them. But mosquitoes are resilient and have developed the ability to adapt to new drugs.

Scientists are planning to developed a special variety of mosquitoes that are sexually super active, can mate with wild female mosquitoes at the first encounter, but are also sterile. This technique has been successful in eliminating other harmful insects like screw-worms and fruit flies (which cause massive loss to agriculture), and some trials on mosquitoes have shown positive results.

Since the insects would be sterilised, the mating would not produce offspring’s. As a result, the overall population of the insect in the target area would significantly decrease over a period of time.

Female mosquitoes mate only once in their lifetime. Scientists believe that if it can somehow be ensured that this once-in-a-lifetime mating occurs with a sterile mosquito, the overall population can be easily checked because such a mating will not produce offspring’s.

Besides, it is only the female mosquitoes that bite, suck blood and spread infections, so releasing sterile males in the wild is not risky.

However, the problem is absence of horny and sexually active mosquitoes.

Not just smart, they are becoming stronger, more resilient and healthier. Mosquito control has traditionally been centred on the use of insecticides. The new age mosquito repellents do not scare them.

 However, over decades, mosquitoes have become resilient and have developed immunity against such insecticides. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that illnesses transmitted by mosquitoes have become a major threat to global public health. WHO says that nearly 50-100 million dengue infections are been reported every year. In the past 50 years, dengue cases rose by 30 per cent globally. Mosquitoes are also responsible for a host of other illnesses like malaria, chikungunya, Zika, yellow fever and Japanese encephalitis, among others.