mosquitoes

Novel CRISPR-based gene drive technology engineers fruit flies to introduce desired genes into a population in a controlled manner.

The fight against malaria has been has been plateauing in the last five years. New tools are needed to eradicate malaria, such as a technology called gene drive.

Don’t want to be bitten by mosquitoes? Well, new research has found a gene that can make females, the ones that bite, into males, the ones that don’t.

While you are likely familiar with the annoying experience of being a mosquito’s ‘meal of the day’, more is going on behind the scenes of that insect bite than meets the eye.  Mosquitoes, which are drawn to human scent and breath, require proteins from…

by Apurva Govande figures by Anna Maurer Viruses and the globe In a hidden part of our world exists the vastly diverse microscopic universe. This micro-universe exerts a great amount of influence on our lives via minuscule, unseen molecular packages like…

As mosquitoes develop resistance to insecticides used to control their populations, scientists have been developing new tools. The latest idea: infecting mosquitoes with a fungus genetically engineered to produce arachnid toxins. After infecting the…

Armigeres subalbatus mosquito of the ‘Nagasaki colony’ having a meal [Image: CDC/ Frank Collins, PhD. acquired from Public Health Image Library] With the warm weather of summer quickly approaching, a common enemy known as the mosquito will…

The Zika virus has lately been a global focus due to its connection to deformities in newborns. A recent report by the CDC has bolstered the suspicion that Zika is sexually transmittable from men to women, which was previously only supported by a handful…

by Nathan Schauer figures by Daniel Utter Zika virus (ZIKV) has recently transformed from a relatively unknown tropical disease to a worldwide public health emergency. This crisis is due to emerging evidence that ZIKV causes microcephaly and…