China’s Mosquito Factory: Holds Possibilities For Research Breakthrough

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In Guangzhou, China, a lab is breeding millions of mosquitoes. Their main objective is to eradicate the insect population that’s responsible for the spread of diseases like Zika. 

CNN.com shows what goes on inside the “factory.” The initial plan is to infect the eggs with a certain kind of bacteria that’s going to prevent them from transmitting harmful viruses. It’s also bound to make the males sterile. Eggs won’t hatch if ever they mate with wild females.

Inside China’s ‘Mosquito Factory’

Researchers in Guangzhou, China are breeding millions of mosquitos in a lab. Their goal is to eliminate dangerous mosquito populations that spread diseases like Zika and dengue. Read more…

CNN’s special edition takes a closer look at the lives of the scientists on a mission. Zhiyong Xi wants to get rid of mosquitoes. To be exact, he wants those types that carry serious diseases to be eliminated. He wants to build good mosquitoes that can help against the bad ones.

Xi is a researcher from Michigan State University. In his lab, you can find hundreds of trays filled with 6,000 mosquito larvae. The room smells of beef liver power cut with yeast. These serve as super foods for the little creatures.

Inside China’s ‘mosquito factory’ fighting Zika and dengue

This “mosquito factory” is on Sun Yat-Sen University’s science campus, about an hour’s drive from the bustle of Guangzhou city center. The center’s full name is the Sun Yat-Sen-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease, and here, lab technicians are breeding up to 5 million Aedes albopictus mosquitoes a week — a species more common in Asia, responsible for spreading both dengue and Zika. Read more…

Gant Daily reports that these mosquitoes have been infected with bacteria that stops them from spreading viruses like dengue to the human population. The males in the group are released because the Wolbachia bacteria make them sterile. The females that they mate with will lay eggs that won’t hatch.

The males have now been released on Shazai island. The location is 60 kilometers from the factory, and it separates the village of 1,900 people from the mainland. Based on Xi’s expectations, this technique can result into a great reduction in the number of mosquitoes. 

Inside China’s ‘Mosquito Factory’ Fighting Zika And Dengue

Although his method is unconventional, some scientists are hailing it as one of the most promising ways to eliminate two of the most common mosquito-borne diseases that affect millions each year. Read more…

This strategy may be effective in the long run. Let’s hope that it can produce great results that would encourage the use of this technique.

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