Relevance: Prelims/mains: G.S paper III: Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
Bangladesh is studying the feasibility of applying Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) to control the dengue outbreak.
- A team of experts from WHO-FAO and IAEA arrived in Dhaka to discuss the feasibility of this technique.
About:
- Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is a ‘mosquito fights mosquito technique.’
- Under this, radiation sterilised male mosquitoes are released in areas with dengue causing female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes turning them infertile.
- This is an environmentally friendly method to control mosquitoes as no pesticide is used.
- This breakthrough technique has been tested successfully at two sites in Guangzhou in China.
Bangladesh is now exploring new bio-control strategies to fight off dengue in the long run as the mosquito-borne disease has come to a head.
WHAT IS WOLBACHIA?
Malaysia, which is also grappling to fight off dengue, has introduced “Wolbachia” method this month following a successful pilot project in 2017.
It is the second country after Australia to use the strategy in which Wolbachia bacteria are injected into Aedes mosquitos.
Wolbachia are natural bacteria present in up to 60 percent of insect species, including some mosquitoes. However, it is not usually found in Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is responsible for transmitting human viruses such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika.
When introduced into the Aedes aegypti mosquito, Wolbachia can help reduce the transmission of these viruses to people, the World Mosquito Program’s research has shown.
When a female mosquito mates with a male, with at least one of them bearing Wolbachia, they will produce Wolbachia-infected mosquitos.
Mosquitos with Wolbachia have a reduced ability to transmit viruses to people, decreasing the risk of fatal diseases such as dengue.
The Nature journal in an article on July 17 said two islands in the Chinese city of Guangzhou have reduced the Aedes albopictus, or Asian tiger mosquito, by up to 94 percent using the method.
WHAT IS OXITEC METHOD?
Oxitec is a British biotechnology company which develops genetically modified insects to assist in insect control.
They have “friendly” Aedes mosquitoes that can reduce the vector that spreads dengue, Zika and other diseases, the director general for health services said.
According to the company, their “friendly” mosquito strains are designed to significantly reduce the population of a targeted mosquito species in the wild without impact on human or environmental health.
Upon release into the environment, Oxitec’s 2nd generation male-selecting strains mate with females, and only male offspring with a self-limiting gene survive to adulthood.
The female offspring from such mating will die before reaching adulthood. Only female mosquitoes bite.
The surviving non-biting males subsequently seek out and mate with more wild females and pass along the self-limiting trait for up to 10 generations before being extinct, according to Oxitec.