2023-09-21 15:00 Reading about Marco Polo Culture Picture/Pixabay
The local cases of dengue fever have remained high recently, and the risk of transmission is extremely high. Cases with underlying chronic diseases are more likely to develop life-threatening symptoms such as high fever, difficulty breathing, and abnormal gastrointestinal phenomena. Regarding the annoying mosquitoes, scientists have tried various ways to suppress the spread of parasitic diseases. Is it feasible to modify mosquito genes? Can mosquitoes be further annihilated? If mosquitoes disappear, how can the ecological chain maintain normal operation? These need to be listed as key points for technology research and development considerations. (Editor’s note)
Text/Eric. Oceana, Isabel. Germany.Saint Aubin
Kill mosquitoes or vaccinate them? Thanks to molecular scissors, inserting new genes into mosquitoes has never been easier. Some researchers choose extreme methods. Since there are already ways to get rid of these harmful little bugs, why not use them? Others are more cautious, preferring to administer vaccines. It will still allow mosquitoes to live, but it will prevent them from causing harm.
Let’s turn to Brazil for a moment. Piracicaba (population 400,000 inhabitants) is 160 kilometers away from São Paulo. For a long time, the city’s resources have been mainly agricultural products (coffee, cane sugar), but now it has found new resources, focusing on industry (metallurgy, agricultural machinery, and the new intensive production of biofuels).
For this prosperous city, everything would have gone smoothly had it not been for the river passing by. The river, although often choppy, was sung by local poets and no one complained. But the river attracts mosquitoes, swarms of them that disrupt walks at any time, block concerts along the river, and deprive all couples of charming dates unless they are protected from dengue, quondam fever and Zika. Residents complained.
The city government was sensitive to voters’ anger and decided to spend heavily on improvements. It proposed to a British company to come to this country to build a factory, and the nature of this factory was a bit special.
So, in the UK, things started to work. In charge are two well-known institutions: the Royal College and the University of Oxford. The University of Oxford has established a company (Isis Innovation) in order to market the products developed in the laboratory. So, in Luke. Alphey (Luke Alphey, also working at the Royal Academy) and Dean. Driven by two scientists, Dean Thomas, Oxford Insect Technology (Oxitec) was established. Over the next several years, they worked to improve the technology of “sterile insects.”
In 1999, they applied for their first patent, targeting the Aedes aegypti mosquito. This mosquito carries a variety of viruses, including dengue fever. Two researchers have successfully modified the genes of male mosquitoes so that they can only give birth to non-viable larvae.
The transformation program is the crystallization of great wisdom. First, modified DNA is injected into mosquito eggs. This DNA gives instructions to produce a protein that can prevent cell growth. In confinement, they injected mosquitoes hatched from these eggs with the antibiotic tétracycline, which blocks the action of proteins that harm its growth. After such treatment, mosquitoes can grow up normally and reproduce. These mosquitoes are unable to produce the synthetic molecule tetracycline, and once released into the wild, the protein can activate growth-retarding functions. Mosquitoes die as a result. It is worth noting that the offspring of these male mosquitoes cannot survive after mating with wild female mosquitoes.
As for the way to release these “GMO mosquitoes” into the wild, it couldn’t be simpler: just project them outside the cage. All it takes is an electric fan without blades and a small truck to drive slowly through the infected area. These methods are both simple and extreme, and only residents living in infected areas will be interested.
Book title: “Mosquitoes, Viruses and Globalization: What the Hundred-Year Battle between Epidemics and Humanity Brings to Us” Author: Eric…
In 2015, Oxford Insect Technologies was sold to the American company Intrexon for US$160 million. A new management team has taken over the project, including several former executives from Syngenta, the manufacturer of (genetically modified) seeds.
In the fall of 2009, Oxford Insect Technology released the first batch of genetically modified mosquitoes into the atmosphere. The location chosen for this experiment was Grand Cayman, a British island in the Caribbean. Even though the trial’s results were clear – mosquito populations were rapidly declining – it sparked a heated debate.
Do they have the right to implement such a plan without the consent of the local people? Moreover, have they taken all measures to prevent this new type of insect from multiplying?
Oxford Entomology ignored the criticism and continued its experiments, particularly in Panama but also in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia.
From now on, the factory set up near the city of Piracicaba will “produce” 250 million “GMO” mosquitoes every month, and release more than 10 million mosquitoes into the area every week. Precisely because female mosquitoes prefer natural wild mosquitoes, such a large number of “genetically modified” male mosquitoes are needed. It seems that mosquito ladies will only succumb to a “genetically modified mosquito” when they cannot find any better partner and are desperate. , mate with them… Even if those who adhere to this approach refute the accusation of “mosquito annihilation” (“Our enemies are dengue fever and Zika, not mosquitoes”), this method of extermination is still worrying. How could there be no doubts?
Nothing in nature can tolerate emptiness. Who will occupy the nests vacated by the anti-mosquito campaign? Which insect will replace the mosquito? Wouldn’t those bugs do more harm, bringing in more lethal parasites?
Another reason for concern: Whether it’s larvae or adults, what should the animals that normally feed on mosquitoes eat? What are the consequences of starvation for amphibians, freshwater fish and birds? Will our farming be affected?
For all these reasons, other researchers are following another path, which is to administer vaccines. The main purpose is to awaken the mosquito’s immune system. Why does it have no reaction to foreign matter invading the body and just accept it?
At the University of California (Irvine, 60 kilometers from Los Angeles), Anthony. Anthony James and his team are also modifying mosquito DNA, but for him the goal is to destroy the parasite. Another method uses a bacterium called Wolbachia.
Studies have shown that it can interfere with the reproduction of certain insects; but it has also been found to have the ability to block the spread of certain viruses, including dengue virus. Australian scholar Scott. That’s how Scott O’Neill created Aedes mosquitoes infected with this bacterial ally. They were released into the wild in Queensland, and the results are inspiring. Good news has also come from other countries: Vietnam, Indonesia, Brazil, and Colombia.
And, every time, Bill and Melinda. The Gates Foundation has spared no effort in sponsoring. We know that fighting malaria has always been a priority for the Foundation. Since its inception, it has assisted more than…two billion dollars in this one area alone. Today, similar charities can contribute far more than financially strapped public institutions.
Whichever approach is chosen, eradication or vaccination, a major problem remains unsolved: the transfer of genetic modifications. Should millions of genetically modified mosquitoes continue to be released into the wild? This technology certainly has its risks, and in addition, it is also very expensive.
●This article is excerpted from “Mosquitoes, Viruses and Globalization: What the Centennial Battle between Epidemics and Humanity Brings to Us” published by Marco Polo
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