Mosquitoes are annoying to extreme lengths! As a result, humans had to reach a different extremity to annoy or rather end them annoying creatures. Changes in the environment might have led to the evolution of their fighting back skills somehow, because all the earlier defenses seem to fail in the present.
Aedes aegypti mosquito species are one of the top 3 disease spreader mosquitoes in the world.
Aedes aegypti females transmit viruses like dengue, chikungunya, Zika, Mayaro and yellow fever viruses, and other disease agents. They do this while having a blood meal. These mosquitoes have white markings on its legs. A marking in the form of a lyre on the upper surface of its thorax could also be used to identify them.
The initiative was taken by the OXITEC biotech company in the United States. The scientists had designed a test experiment in the late April 2021. In the test, the first genetically modified male mosquito eggs were set out in toaster-sized, hexagonal boxes in the suburban private properties in Florida. The eggs were specifically of the Aedes aegypti species of mosquitoes.
The first genetically modified mosquitoes that were planted as male eggs have recently reached the age for flying and mating. The target is to shrink local Aedes aegypti species. The genetically modified mosquitoes have distinctively masculine (extra fluffy) antennae and they carry genetic add-ons that block development in females.
The new female offspring that would be generated after mating the GM males shouldn’t be able to survive till adulthood in the wild. As narrated by molecular biologist Nathan Rose, Oxitec’s chief of regulatory affairs. While the new male offspring can grow on to trick another generation of females. These would again lead onto unwise mating decisions and daughters that won’t survive in the wild!
The target of these GM male mosquito species will be just their own kind. These Genetically Modified (GM) Aedes aegypti males only represent about 4% of the total 45 combined populations thriving in the USA.
