Feature Animals Mosquitoes Remade Scientists reinvent agents of illness to become allies in fight against disease Share this:EmailFacebookTwitterPinterestPocketRedditPrint By Susan Milius June 29, 2012 at 11:19 am It’s a bit unnerving that Scott O’Neill bursts out laughing at the basic premise behind the story you are beginning to read. IN THE HOT ZONE | More than 40 percent of the world’s population lives with the risk of dengue, which is transmitted via mosquitoes. Some scientists believe they can build a better mosquito that fights dengue rather than spreading it. Two kinds of reinvented mosquitoes have been released in field tests, one in the Caribbean and the other in Australia. Future test sites are under consideration. Source: World Health Organization Geoatlas/Graphi-Ogre, adapted by Stephen Egts James Gathany/CDC GENETIC TAKEDOWN A field test in 2009 showed that released mosquitoes carrying lethal genes would mate and pass on the genes to offspring. Following a November release, researchers collected eggs to see how many hatched into larvae with the genes (top), marked by fluorescence (bottom). Source: A. Harris et al/Nature Biotech. 2011 Courtesy of OXITEC BLOCK BREAKDOWN | After releasing bacteria-infected mosquitoes into an Australian town last year, researchers tested sections of the town to see how prevalent the bacteria became. Most sections (shown above) saw a big jump in the percent of infected mosquitoes during a roughly two-month period. A. A. Hoffmann et al/Nature 2011 Scott O’Neill and his Australian team have raised hundreds of thousands of bacteria-infected mosquitoes. The mosquitoes may one day help fight dengue. Colyn Huber/Eliminate Dengue Program MICROBE PUMP-UP Researchers are testing a mosquito intended to fight dengue by passing along the disruptive Wolbachia bacteria to other mosquitoes. The bacteria successfully spread through a population after mosquito releases (bars) in a town in Australia last year. Source: A.A. Hoffmann et al/Nature 2011 More Stories from Science News on Animals Animals Scientists have just turned giant panda skin cells into stem cells By Jason Bittel4 hours ago Animals Ants changed the architecture of their nests when exposed to a pathogen By Richard KemenySeptember 19, 2024 Neuroscience Some healthy fish have bacteria in their brains By Erin Garcia de JesúsSeptember 18, 2024 Life Mega El Niños kicked off the world’s worst mass extinction By Jake BuehlerSeptember 12, 2024 Animals Bumblebees lose most of their sense of smell after heat waves By Gennaro TommaSeptember 6, 2024 Animals Scientists piece together clues in a shark ‘murder mystery’ By Jason BittelSeptember 3, 2024 Animals Here’s how an arthropod pulls off the world’s fastest backflip By Jonathan LambertAugust 29, 2024 Animals In a first, these bats were found to have toes that glow By Jason BittelAugust 28, 2024