How To Stop Dengue? Make Mosquitoes Deaf So They Don't Have Sex, Say Scientists

Scientists have developed a novel method to curb mosquito-borne diseases by making male mosquitoes deaf, hindering their ability to find females and mate.

Scientists have come up with a quirky new way to contain the spread of mosquito-borne diseases like dengue, yellow fever, and Zika - by making male mosquitoes deaf so that they struggle to mate and breed. 

The male insects rely on hearing to chase down a female, based on her attractive wingbeats. Mosquitoes have sex while flying in mid-air. The disease is spread to humans by female mosquitoes so trying to prevent them from reproducing would help reduce overall numbers, stated a report by BBC.

The researchers at the University of California, Irvine did an experiment where they altered a genetic pathway that is used by a male mosquito for this hearing to sense the presence of a female. As a result, male mosquitoes made no physical contact with females, even after three days in the same cage. 

The scientists closely observed the mating habits of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which spread viruses to around 400 million people a year. They then figured out how to disrupt the mating  - which can last between a few seconds to just under a minute - using genetics. 

They targeted a protein called trpVa that aids hearing in mosquitoes. In the mutated mosquitoes, neurons normally involved in the detection of sounds showed no response to the flight tones or wingbeats of potential mates. 

However, the non-mutant males were quick to mate multiple times and fertilised nearly all females in their cages. Researchers from the University of California said that the effect of altering the genetics was "absolute" as mating by deaf males was entirely eliminated. 

Joerg Albert from the University of Oldenburg in Germany who is an expert on mosquito mating backed the experiment saying it was a "promising route for mosquito control".

However, he also said that the attacking sense of sound in mosquitoes also needed to be studied and managed. 

"The study provides a first direct molecular test, which suggests that hearing is indeed not only important for mosquito reproduction but essential," he told BBC. 

"Without the ability of males to hear - and acoustically chase - female mosquitoes might become extinct," he added. 

He said that another method of containing the spread of disease is being explored where sterile males are released in areas where there are pockets of mosquito-spread diseases.