Searching for a better mosquito repellent

sea-maid submitted, created time 6 months 1 day (www.pnas.org)

Most people in hot places--or even just hot weather--are troubled by mosquitos. What is an annoyance in some parts of the world, however, can be fatal in others. In this stuty, the scientists point out that it is necessary to search for more effective repellents, one of which is introduced in this article, lasting a record 85 days!

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Disease-free mosquito bred to disease-carrier can have all disease-free progeny

bianjie submitted, created time 1 year 4 months (www.eurekalert.org)

Researchers from Virginia Tech and the University of California Irvine have demonstrated the ability to express a foreign gene exclusively in the female mosquito germline, a necessary prerequisite to future genetic control strategies in mosquitoes where all progeny of lab and wild mosquitoes will have the gene that blocks virus replication -- or whatever trait has been introduced into the lab mosquitoes.

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K-State biologist hopes mosquito can break viral chain

bioman submitted, created time 1 year 6 months (www.eurekalert.org)

Most people do their best to avoid mosquitoes. But this summer Rollie Clem will play the wary host to his own homegrown swarm of Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito. He's made a room ready for them, and even a menu.

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Genetic Code of Deadly Mosquito Cracked

Scarlett submitted, created time 1 year 6 months (www.sciam.com)

Aedes aegypti is the mosquito that is the scourge behind outbreaks of the deadly yellow, dengue and even chikungunya fevers that kill thousands of people in Africa, South America and Asia every year. Now an international consortium of researchers has sequenced the majority of the Aedes genome, offering hope that specific genes can be identified that would allow scientists to combat these tropical diseases in their carrier.

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Genome of yellow fever/dengue fever mosquito sequenced

Dolly submitted, created time 1 year 6 months (www.eurekalert.org)

Developing new strategies to prevent and control yellow fever and dengue fever has become more possible with the completion of the first draft of the genome sequence of Aedes aegypti mosquito by scientists led by Vishvanath Nene at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) and David Severson at the University of Notre Dame. The genome is the complete set of genetic material including genes and other segments of DNA in an organism.

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Mosquito bacteria identified in malaria battle

medal submitted, created time 1 year 6 months (www.reuters.com)

"Scientists in Italy say they have identified a potential weapon against malaria living inside the blood-sucking mosquitoes that spread the disease -- their internal bacteria."

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Independent Duplications of the Acetylcholinesterase Gene Conferring Insecticide Resistance in the Mosquito Culex pipiens

fiona submitted, created time 1 year 6 months (mbe.oxfordjournals.org)

"Gene duplication is thought to be the main potential source of material for the evolution of new gene functions. Several models have been proposed for the evolution of new functions through duplication, most based on ancient events (Myr). We provide molecular evidence for the occurrence of several (at least 3) independent duplications of the ace-1 locus in the mosquito Culex pipiens, selected in response to insecticide pressure that probably occurred very recently (<40 years ago). This locus encodes the main target of several insecticides, the acetylcholinesterase

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Mosquito genes explain response to climate change

athena submitted, created time 1 year 7 months (www.biologynews.net)

"University of Oregon researchers studying mosquitoes have produced the first chromosomal map that shows regions of chromosomes that activate – and are apparently evolving – in animals in response to climate change. "

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