For a dozen of countries the statistics of a fruit fly mitigation is very positive with the help of nuclear technologies. Why is not the mosquito suppressed by the same means on the global scale?
The IAEA, in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), has developed a cost-effective, environmentally-friendly and residue-free nuclear technique, the sterile insect technique, that is used effectively against major insect pests and promises also to be effective in combatting malaria-transmitting mosquitoes and the diseases they carry. This method is already deployed in many regions to control the spread of various other health-threatening pests, such as the sleeping sickness transmitted by the tsetse fly. However, the sterile insect technique has yet to be used on a large scale against malaria-transmitting mosquitoes, in part due to technical challenges that include releasing only male sterile mosquitoes, as well as having efficient trapping systems.
According to WHO report „Malaria elimination will require strong government commitment, with suf- ficient domestic funding, and will require setting regional and intercountry targets with synchronized timelines and approaches across borders, to counter the effects of cross-border population and parasite movement and the importation of parasites through immigration from more distant endemic countries”. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/43903/1/9789241596756_eng.pdf
may be genetic modification or mutation by irradiation will lead to a variety which will not spread malaria; just a guess where irradiation can help but need comprehensive studies.
Malaria has already been eradicated in most parts of Europe with simple control techniques. The problem is that malaria affects The poorest countries that can not afford to fight this parasitic disease. Therefore, the persistence of the disease is due to the poverty and not to the control techniques
The best technique is to eliminate the parasite in both mosquitoes and in humans
in humans if population is known it is feasible to remove parasite from population and simultaneously the population of the mosquito should be control so as to kill all mosquitoes which might have parasite in them thereafter no transmission will be there if condition is ideal reduction of mosquitoes and molecular alteration creates another population in a native population which also survive as other mosquitoes but after you add these mosquitoes which are modified any how and are now unable to transmit will be there in addition to the existing population of transmitting mosquitoes but now you have limitation you can not apply insecticide to kill them as you have released your modified mosquito in the system.
Therefore it is very important to first see feasibility in nature
Yes you can use low dose irradiation to sterilize the males hence will reduce the vector population and eliminate it in the long term. As indicate by Gladenau above IAEA and FAO has contributed immensely in that field such as the tsetse eradication in Zanzibar. Malaria vectors can fall in the same category.
Check out what IAEA and FAO has contracted in vectrorborne diseases.
Malaria is still a big threat in Africa. Keeping the environment clean to prevent the mosquitoes from breeding is another option.
- Badges
- Science topic