What is oxitec?
Oxitec (originally Oxford Insect Technologies) is a UK-based biotechnology company that develops genetically modified insects to assist in insect control. The genetically modified populations act as a “living insecticide”.
What is self limiting gene?
The self-limiting gene prevents offspring of our released male insect from surviving to adulthood, and a fluorescent marker gene produces a protein throughout the body of the insects, which glows when exposed to a specific colour of light. This helps us to track our insects in the wild.
Does dengue mosquito look different?
The Aedes Aegypti mosquito, or dengue mosquito, is dark coloured and has typical white markings on the legs and lyre like markings on the thorax. It is significantly smaller in size, being only 4 to 7 millimetres long. In this species, the female mosquitoes are longer than males.
How was OX513A developed?
But not OX513A. This male is created by injecting very small amounts of synthetic DNA into thousands of mosquito eggs until finally one of the eggs accepts the DNA into its genome, creating two genes. One is a lethal gene, synthesized from E. coli and the herpes simplex virus.
Does oxitec use Crispr?
Oxitec has developed a GM version of Aedes aegypti a species of mosquito which causes spread of the Zika virus dengue and other arboviruses. The company used the CRISPR gene editing technique to make a modified version of the male Ae aegypti which expresses a genetic flaw.
What is Zika mosquito?
Zika is spread mostly by the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito (Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus). These mosquitoes bite during the day and night. Zika can be passed from a pregnant woman to her fetus.
Do mosquitoes do anything good?
While they can seem pointless and purely irritating to us humans, mosquitoes do play a substantial role in the ecosystem. Mosquitoes form an important source of biomass in the food chain—serving as food for fish as larvae and for birds, bats and frogs as adult flies—and some species are important pollinators.
What would happen if mosquitoes went extinct?
Without mosquitoes, thousands of plant species would lose a group of pollinators. Adults depend on nectar for energy (only females of some species need a meal of blood to get the proteins necessary to lay eggs). Yet McAllister says that their pollination isn’t crucial for crops on which humans depend.
Is dengue bite itchy?
They usually bite you on the ankles and elbows. The only way to differentiate between a dengue mosquito bite and a normal mosquito bite is that that a dengue mosquito bite is much redder and itchy compared to a normal mosquito bite.
Why do female mosquitoes bite humans?
Only female mosquitoes bite people and animals to get a blood meal. Female mosquitoes need a blood meal to produce eggs. Mosquitoes get infected with germs, such as viruses and parasites, when they bite infected people and animals.
What is OX513A gene?
OX513A Aedes aegypti is a genetically engineered strain carrying a self-limiting gene. Studies in several countries have shown the effectiveness of the strain at reducing pest Aedes aegypti populations.