Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes to Battle ’Zika’ in Brazil

Local Editor

In an effort to curb the spread of the Zika virus, a UK-based company partnered up with Brazilian authorities to introduce genetically modified sterile mosquitoes into the wild to reduce the population and the threat of the virus spreading to humans.

The Zika virus is spread to people through "aedes aegypti" mosquito bites. Once contracted, the illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting from several days to a week. The most common symptoms of Zika virus are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis.

While most cases of the decease are hardly ever noticed, pregnant women fall under a special category of risk. If infected, their newborn children could be prone to microcephaly, a neurological disorder that results in abnormally small heads, leading to developmental issues and sometimes death.

Besides, Zika is linked to a sharp increase in cases of infant microcephaly in Brazil. In order to stop the spread of the virus, the Oxford-based Intrexon Corporation, announced a special collaboration with the Brazilian municipal authority which aims to root out the spread of the decease by battling the mosquito population in the area.

The "Friendly Aedes aegypti Project" conducted by the company's subsidiary Oxitec aims to tackle the virus spread in the city of Piracicaba, based on the success of previous preventative measures introduced across Central and South America.

Relatively, the company said in a press release: "Following strong results for controlling the Ae. aegypti mosquito population, the primary vector for dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus outbreaks around the world...Oxitec is initiating a new mosquito production facility in Piracicaba that will have capacity to protect over 300,000 people."

The task is to introduce sterile genetically engineered mosquitoes into the highly dense mosquito-infested area to curb their populations and prevent the disease from spreading.

Once introduced the genetically modified male mosquitoes will seek out female mosquitoes in the wild to mate with them. The result of such mating will result in no offspring, and that will eventually reduce the entire mosquito population in the area, drastically reducing their threat to humans.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team