If venoms from spiders and sea anemones are inserted into the reproductive systems of males, some disease-spreading insects could be eliminated, a new study suggests.
Samuel Beach and Maciej Maselko, from Macquarie University in Australia, developed what they call the “toxic male technique”, in which insects are genetically modified to express venom proteins from other species in the glands of their reproductive system. It is, therefore, a modification of the semen of these poisonous insects.
No, published this Tuesday in Natureresearchers tested seven different venom proteins in male fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster).
The poisonous proteins of spider Phoneutria nigriventer and from sea anemone Anemonia sulcata were those that performed the best, reducing the average life expectancy of mated females by between 37 and 64%, says .
In the case of mosquitoes that carry yellow feverfor example, even modest mortality rates are sufficient, which can already reduce female populations more quickly than other approaches and reduce blood supply by 40% to 60%.
Another dangerous species, the screwworm parasite, has been successfully controlled through release of large numbers of sterile males into the wild, so that many females mate unsuccessfully and the population of the next generation is reduced.
“We need another two to three years to develop mosquito strains ready for field trials and to carry out the necessary experiments to ensure that the technology does not have unexpected negative effects,” says Maselko.
“We know much more about genetics yes Drosophila than about any insect pest. Getting the exact expression in the right place would be more problematic in a pest, but I don’t see any fundamental reason why this wouldn’t work,” he says. Luke Alphey from the University of York, United Kingdom.
After the tests carried out, the researchers promise that “commercial implementation may be possible within another two years”.
