Scientists have created a new strain of “super-infected” mosquitoes that could potentially help fight dengue fever and the Zika virus.
Scientists have created a new strain of “super-infected” mosquitoes that could potentially help fight dengue fever and the Zika virus.
Researchers created a strain of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in the lab that has been infected with two types of Wolbachia — a bacterium that can reduce the risk of dengue spreading to humans. The new strain is more effective at blocking dengue than the singly-infected insect, researchers from University of Melbourne said. This strain could also be useful in preventing the dengue virus from developing resistance to Wolbachia, ABC News reported. “It would be a higher hurdle for the virus to get over the top of,” said Cameron Simmons from University of Melbourne. Wolbachia biocontrol could be useful for other viruses carried by Aedes aegypti, including Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever virus, Simmons said.
Wolbachia is transmitted through the females to the next generation, which means the bacterial infection can spread rapidly through mosquito populations. Studies have shown that when a mosquito bites an infected person, the ability of the virus to spread throughout the Wolbachia-infected insect’s tissues is limited.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis has suggested women threatened with the Zika virus could use artificial contraception, saying “avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil” in light of the global epidemic. The Pope unequivocally rejected abortion as a response to the crisis in remarks Wednesday. But he drew a parallel to a decision by Pope Paul VI in the 1960s to approve giving nuns in Belgian Congo artificial contraception to prevent pregnancies because they were being systematically raped. Abortion “is an evil in and of itself, but it is not a religious evil at its root, no It’s a human evil,” Francis said.
