Field evaluation of RNAi-based attractive targeted sugar baits for control of Anopheles mosquitoes

The development of transformative, environmentally friendly, cost-effective new mosquito control tools is critical for preventing the spread of malaria parasites in Sub Saharan Africa and other parts of the world. Attractive toxic sugar baits (ATSBs), a new paradigm for vector mosquito control, exploit the sugar feeding behavior of female and male mosquitoes that are lured to feed on a sugar source containing an insecticide. Mosquito-specific interfering RNA pesticides (IRPs) are a novel class of insecticides that can overcome rising incidences of pesticide resistance, significantly enhance ATSB technology, and reduce outdoor residual transmission. Recent high-throughput screens in the Scheel laboratory identified hundreds of IRPs, a subset of which have 25 bp target sites that are conserved in many species of disease vector mosquitoes, but that are not found in humans or other non-target organisms, and which kill both larvae and adults. 

Enabling Technologies & Assays
Vector Control

Sep 2021 — Sep 2022

$123,268

Tanzania