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- January 24, 2011, 08:34:08 AMOther UA researchers involved with the project include Patricia Y. Scaraffia, Guanhong Tan, Jun Isoe, BIO5 member Vicki H. Wysocki, and the late Michael A. Wells.
In a world where both mosquitoes and the diseases they carry are becoming increasingly resistant to known insecticides and medicines,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, finding new ways to fight them is crucial.
Scaraffia, a research assistant professor in UA's department of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, and the other members of the team published their findings in the January 15 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
"Our goal is to turn the female mosquito's blood meal into the last meal she ever eats," said project leader Roger L. Miesfeld, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics in UA's College of Science and a member of BIO5 and the Arizona Cancer Center.
Once found, this molecule--and similar molecules aimed at other mosquito species--could be developed into an insecticide and sprayed in places where mosquitoes congregate, such as around water and on mosquito netting.
"The whole community would essentially become one big mosquito trap," Miesfeld said. Over time, mosquito populations and disease rates would both decline. "It would be a group effort that in the long run could have a huge impact."
Researchers Put The Bite On Mosquitoes
Miesfeld and his colleagues are seeking a molecule that is harmless to humans,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, but will gum up the works of mosquito metabolism, forcing the mosquitoes to hang onto the nitrogen. Such a molecule would kill both the mosquitoes and their would-be progeny--thus slowing the spread of disease.
These researchers have discovered that one particular mosquito species,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, Aedes aegypti, has a surprisingly complex metabolic pathway, one that requires its members to excrete toxic nitrogen after gorging on human blood. If the mosquitoes fail to do so,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, they'll also fail to lay eggs--and will likely sicken and die.
The researchers also envision developing an oral insecticide--a mosquito-slaying pill that members of a community with a high instance of, say, yellow fever or malaria might take to reduce the mosquito population. The pill wouldn't be a vaccine; if people who took it were later bitten by a disease-carrying mosquito, they would still become infected. However, the mosquito would ingest the insecticide along with the blood, causing her to bear fewer young and possibly die before she could bite anyone else.
"This would be one more weapon in our arsenal against diseases that kill millions of people a year," Miesfeld said.
In a world where both mosquitoes and the diseases they carry are becoming increasingly resistant to known insecticides and medicines,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, finding new ways to fight them is crucial.
Scaraffia, a research assistant professor in UA's department of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, and the other members of the team published their findings in the January 15 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
"Our goal is to turn the female mosquito's blood meal into the last meal she ever eats," said project leader Roger L. Miesfeld, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics in UA's College of Science and a member of BIO5 and the Arizona Cancer Center.
Once found, this molecule--and similar molecules aimed at other mosquito species--could be developed into an insecticide and sprayed in places where mosquitoes congregate, such as around water and on mosquito netting.
"The whole community would essentially become one big mosquito trap," Miesfeld said. Over time, mosquito populations and disease rates would both decline. "It would be a group effort that in the long run could have a huge impact."
Researchers Put The Bite On Mosquitoes
Miesfeld and his colleagues are seeking a molecule that is harmless to humans,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, but will gum up the works of mosquito metabolism, forcing the mosquitoes to hang onto the nitrogen. Such a molecule would kill both the mosquitoes and their would-be progeny--thus slowing the spread of disease.
These researchers have discovered that one particular mosquito species,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, Aedes aegypti, has a surprisingly complex metabolic pathway, one that requires its members to excrete toxic nitrogen after gorging on human blood. If the mosquitoes fail to do so,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, they'll also fail to lay eggs--and will likely sicken and die.
The researchers also envision developing an oral insecticide--a mosquito-slaying pill that members of a community with a high instance of, say, yellow fever or malaria might take to reduce the mosquito population. The pill wouldn't be a vaccine; if people who took it were later bitten by a disease-carrying mosquito, they would still become infected. However, the mosquito would ingest the insecticide along with the blood, causing her to bear fewer young and possibly die before she could bite anyone else.
"This would be one more weapon in our arsenal against diseases that kill millions of people a year," Miesfeld said.