US Considers Infecting Mosquitoes With Bacteria To Stop Zika Virus

The US could soon become the first country to approve the commercial use of a bacterium to fight the spread of mosquito borne viruses such as Zika. The strategy involves infecting mosquitoes with the bacterium and releasing the males into the environment. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reviewing an application from a Biotech start up firm RT reports: The idea, currently being reviewed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), comes from MosquitoMate, a biotechnology startup which hopes to use the Wolbachia pipientis bacteria as a tool against the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), Nature reported. The company’s plan involves rearing mosquitoes infected with a particular strain of the bacteria and releasing the males into the environment. If the males mate with females who do not carry the same strain of Wolbachia, any fertilized eggs would not hatch because the paternal chromosomes would not form properly. This, according to MosquitoMate – a company started by researchers at the University of Kentucky – would result in a dwindling mosquito population and consequently less spread of diseases. The current proposal being reviewed by the EPA comes after three years of testing by MosquitoMate, in three different states. The strategy has so [...]