Mosquito Breakthroughs: A Promising Strategy Against Dengue Fever and Other Vector-Borne Diseases
Researchers have discovered that a protein called Argonaute 2 (Ago2) in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes plays a crucial role in keeping the mosquitoes healthy and active despite being infected with dengue, yellow fever, Zika, and other harmful viruses. By impairing the mosquitoes' defense mechanisms, such as the small interfering RNA (siRNA) pathway, the researchers found that the mosquitoes became more susceptible to viral infections and had a reduced ability to transmit the viruses to humans. This discovery opens up the possibility of developing a new strategy for controlling mosquito-borne diseases by engineering mosquitoes to become less tolerant to virus infection, ultimately reducing their ability to transmit diseases to humans.