Last Updated: 03/10/2022
Field evaluation of RNAi-based attractive targeted sugar baits for control of Anopheles mosquitoes
Objectives
The long-term goal of the proposed research program is to develop an attractive toxic sugar baits (ATSB) target product with interfering RNA pesticides (IRPs) as the mosquitocidal agent.
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), United States
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.
Sep 2021 — Sep 2022
$123,268
Related Resources
