Mosquitoes can be genetically engineered to be weapons against infectious diseases, including the deadly dengue fever virus, says a Colorado State University researcher.
In a study led by CSU researcher Ken Olson, a naturally occurring anti-viral pathway was triggered in mosquitoes to reduce or eliminate their ability to transmit the dengue fever virus.
Dengue fever infects 100 million people each year and has a case-fatality rate of about 5 percent if untreated, primarily among children and young adults, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Triggering the pathway, called RNA interference, made the insects resistant to the virus, of which there are four types.
“The research results of this study offer promising results for halting the spread of this disease,” said Olson, a researcher in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
Dengue fever is endemic to about 100 countries, including the United States, Colombia and Brazil, as well as much of Africa and the Caribbean islands, according to the CDC.
The genetically altered mosquitoes were not only resistant to the virus but also fertile, which lends hope to researchers that the insects could be introduced into wild mosquito populations and have a widespread impact on the spread of the disease.
The control technique could be applied to other vector-borne diseases, such as malaria.
Many scientists believe genetic engineering will be the most effective method to deal with insect-borne diseases, saying current methods – including the use of pesticides – are difficult to sustain.
“It’s like trying to control cockroaches,” Charles Ben Beard of the CDC office in Fort Collins told The Denver Post in 2004. “You can kill your roaches, and it works, but if your neighbor doesn’t control his … they just spread over.”
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
