Targeting mosquitoes through genetics

Mosquitoes are a common problem for all of us now a days. They are responsible for spreading deadly fevers and are sometimes tough to treat. Mosquitoes are considered as vectors or mediators of transferring disease causing parasites or bacteria or virus to humans and few of the animals as reported in the texts. Mosquitoes such as female anopheles mosquitoes are responsible for spreading malaria, mainly transferring malaria causing parasite known as plasmodium. It is a single celled parasite and multiplies in the red blood cells. It usually multiplies in the mosquito gut and matures there. As soon as the mosquito bites a human, this grown plasmodium enters into the human body, and starts spreading the disease.  
Mosquito breeding is a big matter of concern and is increasing day by day. It is mystery to solve this problem and a question on how to eliminate the diseases that are spreading through mosquitoes, acting as vectors. Breeding of mosquitoes is a very fast process. Female mosquitoes can produce 100-300 eggs at one time and these eggs hatch within two days. Mosquitoes often prefer to lay their eggs in small ponds, wherever there is clogging of water or a place which has stagnant water. 

Mosquito born pathogens have become smarter than us and therefore we need some solid base to eliminate either these pathogens or kill the vector itself, the mosquito. Also the existing tools are insufficient in controlling such vector borne diseases and need eradication on an urgent need.  Genetic approach seems to be a promising tool for eliminating vector borne diseases such as those induced by mosquitoes. Scientists worldwide have found out a specific way to target mosquito borne disease through genetic approach. This involves site specific gene editing with CRISPR/Cas 9 systems. Though this approach is not new, however there have been promising strategies to combat mosquito borne disease through site specific gene editing. Mosquito biologists have carried out various experiments on mosquito cells through gene targeting strategies.  With this approach they were able to suppress the mosquito population. They were able to suppress the fertility in the female mosquitoes that usually spread malaria, as reported in few of the research papers. 

The term gene drive has been used to reduce the population of disease spreading insects such as mosquitoes through altering few genes in the mosquitoes. This can become a most effective tool in controlling mosquito breeding. While some more research on targeting micro RNA’s seems to be promising for targeting mosquitoes. Some more researchers while working on this project slipped few genes in the mosquito causing infertility in the females. In other research institutes, the main target for the research activity was to curb the plasmodial growth in mosquito gut. This helped to curb the growth of disease causing bacteria in the mosquito which gets transferred to humans, when the mosquito bites. In this project scientists modified parasitic genes and targeted those genes to produce anti-malarial proteins. This made mosquitoes less likely to spread malaria.
In conclusion we can estimate that genetics in a long way can help to target disease spreading mosquitoes and stop their growth and breeding.