A study conducted by Japanese researchers, in collaboration with scientists from other Asian countries, has discovered some “super mosquitoes” able to resist the most common insecticides. These mosquitoes are mainly found in Vietnam and Cambodia.
As we know, mosquitoes are among the main causes of death in humans; they are especially lethal if carrying diseases such as yellow fever, fever dengue, the Zika virus and Malaria. To combat these insects, science has developed more or less effective methods. Among the most recent discoveries, a way may have been found to prevent mosquitoes from biting us.
More traditionally, however, insecticides are used. Specifically the most common chemicals are called pyrethroids, capable of attacking the central nervous system of mosquitoes. But now, according to this new study, it appears that different strains of mosquitoes have evolved and are become highly resistant to insecticides.
The researchers’ work began in Vietnam, Indonesia, Ghana and Taiwan. After spraying pyrethroids on several samples from each country, the80% of Vietnam’s mosquitoes survived. By analyzing their genome, they found that the mutation that made them resistant to insecticide exposure occurred in the L982W gene.
The team then collected samples from Singapore and Cambodia, and by analyzing the genome and targeting the L982W gene, they found 10 strains of mosquitoes with similar mutationsmost of them in Cambodia.
All mosquitoes with this mutation may be able to survive exposure levels of the insecticide up to a thousand times higher compared to the doses needed to kill a normal mosquito.
Researchers believe it is necessary to start testing insect resistance in other countries to assess the extent of the problem. To remedy this, the only solution may be to genetically modify the mosquitoes.
