Chinese and foreign teams have developed a new method of efficient mosquito control

A Chinese and foreign team, in a July 17 paper published in the British journal Nature, said they had almost completely eliminated wild Aedes aegypti mosquitoes from the field test area by combining male-infected Wolbachia with female sterilization, and that the method was more environmentally friendly and efficient than other mosquito-resistant methods.
Aedes aegypti mosquito is the main vector of dengue, Zika and other viruses. The team of Professor Zhai Zhiyong of Sun Yat-sen University in China has developed a new method for controlling mosquito populations in collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency, Michigan State University, Guangzhou Weiyikun Biotechnology Co., Ltd., China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and other institutions. The team infected the mosquitoes with Wolbachia, then performed low-dose radiation on the mosquitoes, allowing radiation levels to sterilized the female mosquitoes without affecting the fertility of the male mosquitoes, which were eventually released into the wild by the infected bacteria and the radiated mosquitoes.
previous studies have found that Wolbachia can be used to control the breeding of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the male Aedes aegypti mosquito infected with this common symbigma, the female Aedes aegypti mosquito with which they mate eggs can not hatch.
team conducted field trials on two islands in Guangzhou, during which millions of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia and exposed to radiation were released. The results showed that this new "two-pronged" approach allowed the wild Aedes aegypti mosquito population in the test area to be virtually completely eliminated.
comes after a British company tried to control mosquito populations using genetically modified technology. Zhai Zhiyong says this new approach has a greater advantage over GM technology in biosethics and control. "Because we use a symbic bacteria that is widespread in natural insects, it may have been close and peaceful with us since its inception, and it cannot infect vertebrates, including humans."
this new approach pose ecological risks? Zhai Zhiyong explained that there are more than 3000 kinds of mosquitoes in nature, and the new technology only targets a few mosquito species that transmit diseases, while others that do not transmit diseases and are less harmful to humans are not affected. The team plans to test the new method in a wider urban area to see if it can effectively stop the spread of infectious diseases such as dengue fever. (
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