If these insects no longer have sex, their population decreases and the risk of transmission of diseases such as dengue fever, Zika or yellow fever decreases.
This is a surprising scientific conclusion to say the least. Deaf mosquitoes, reports the BBC, are incapable of reproducing and thus limit the spread of serious diseases such as dengue fever, yellow fever or the Zika virus.
This observation is that established by researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in the United States. During a three-day experiment, they managed to “disrupt” male mosquitoes, making them deaf, by attacking the trpVa protein in their DNA involved in hearing.
The results of the study, published in the revue PNASreport a total inability of male individuals to spot the wingbeats of female individuals in their close environment. Unable to identify them, the latter no longer have sexual relations and break the reproductive pattern.
The fight against diseases, but a danger for biodiversity
According to Doctor Joerg Albert of the University of Oldenburg in Germany, details the BBC, preventing the reproduction of mosquitoes could represent a source of problems for biodiversity, because these insects have a major role to play in the food chain in as food for fish, birds, bats and even frogs.
“Without the ability of males to hear, and to hunt acoustically, female mosquitoes could disappear,” worries Joerg Albert at the BBC.
The scientist also points out that some mosquitoes actively participate in pollination, despite themselves. Limiting the sexual relations of mosquitoes could therefore lead to the weakening of an entire ecosystem necessary for life on Earth.
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