{"id":111,"date":"2017-03-01T17:32:19","date_gmt":"2017-03-01T17:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/?p=111"},"modified":"2023-03-07T16:49:44","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T16:49:44","slug":"researchers-engineer-mosquitoes-to-resist-dengue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/researchers-engineer-mosquitoes-resist-dengue\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers Engineer Mosquitoes To Resist Dengue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Table of Contents<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

I. Introduction<\/strong>
\nII. The Need for Fighting Dengue<\/strong>
\nIII. Development of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes<\/strong>
\nIV. Limitations of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes<\/strong>
\nV. Manipulation of the JAK\/STAT Pathway<\/strong>
\nVI. Future Directions: Production of Antiviral Factors in the Gut<\/strong>
\nVII. Controversies Surrounding Genetic Engineering and GMOs<\/strong>
\nVIII. Importance of Extensive Lab and Semi-Field Studies<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Researchers from John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health<\/span> have developed mosquitoes to resist infection from Dengue<\/a> virus. The aim was to enhance the immunity<\/span> of the mosquito in fighting Dengue<\/a> before transmission. the genetically modified mosquitoes can be seen as a success in fighting dengue<\/span> only if it can replace the natural population of dengue<\/span>-transmitting mosquitoes\"\"<\/p>\n

The newly engineered mosquitoes were able to combat dengue<\/span> infection however they did not show resistance to Zika or chikungunya<\/a>. However, this is viewed as a step in the right direction among scientists and health experts as preventive measure occupy a key role in the absence of specialized treatments and vaccines. Dr. Dimopoulos said, \u201cIt will guide us on how to make mosquitoes resistant to multiple types of viruses. Ideally, you want a mosquito that is resistant to other viruses as well.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Researchers noted that the mosquitoes from natural habitats, in fact, mount an immune system response when exposed to dengue<\/span> but are too weak to stop transmission. The genetically bred mosquitoes were developed for mounting a strong immune response and this was done by manipulating the Janus kinase<\/span>\/signal transducers and activators of transcription<\/span> (JAK\/STAT<\/span>) pathway in the mosquitoes\u2019 immune system, that regulates the production of antiviral<\/span> factors.<\/p>\n

The findings of the study were published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases<\/a> in an article titled \u201cEngineered Aedes aegypti<\/span> JAK\/STAT<\/span> Pathway-Mediated Immunity<\/span> to Dengue Virus\u201d The researchers are looking forward to engineer mosquitoes in which antiviral<\/span> factors can be produced in the gut. This would assist in inducing a stronger immune response and possibly confer resistance to the other viruses as well.<\/p>\n

As always, genetic engineering<\/span> and GMOs have their fair share of controversies in the past few years. The team is keen on getting the extensive lab and semi-field studies right before letting the mosquitoes wander in the wild. One needs to acknowledge if this project is feasible, people in the tropical regions would get lasting protection without medicines or vaccination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Table of Contents I. Introduction II. The Need for Fighting Dengue III. Development of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes IV. Limitations of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes V. Manipulation of the JAK\/STAT Pathway VI. Future Directions: Production of Antiviral Factors in the Gut VII. Controversies Surrounding Genetic Engineering and GMOs VIII. Importance of Extensive Lab and Semi-Field Studies Researchers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-outbreaks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}