Mosquitoes cause people a lot of discomfort, and this is true not only for rural regions of Russia, but also for countries such as the United States. In addition, mosquitoes are carriers of dangerous diseases such as Zika virus and Dengue fever. Employees of the United States Environmental Protection Agency came up with the idea of fighting blood-sucking insects in a very unusual way: using a bacteriological weapon, namely, using the Wolbachia bacteria.
Gram-negative pleomorphic bacteria of the Anaplasmataceae family were first discovered by scientists Marshall Hertig and Simeon Burt Wolbach in 1924. The EPA proposes to infect mosquitoes with these bacteria and release them into the wild, thereby allowing the harmful infection to be transmitted to other individuals. So far, it has been decided to test the experimental method on the population of Aedes Albopictus, which is the main carrier of the Zika virus and Dengue fever.
A new bacteriological method for controlling mosquitoes should be an excellent alternative to chemical pest control. Wolbachia is an intracellular parasite that lives in the reproductive system of mosquitoes and reduces their fertility. After fertilization of females by males, they will lay defective eggs, from which mosquitoes, already infected with bacteria, will appear. This will prevent further population growth and significantly reduce the number of mosquitoes. The technology has already been tested in Kentucky, New York and California. In the near future, infected mosquitoes will also be released in other 20 states.
Sergey Gray