Special bacteria engineered to cut mosquito lifespans

Mosquitoes could be targeted with a bacteria aimed at reducing their lifespan and cutting the rate of disease infection, new research has suggested.

Australian researchers have found that a specially-engineered bacterial strain – called Wolbachia – can reduce the length of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes by up to half, according to the Science journal.

As a result, this could cut the rate of infections of disease the insects carry, such as dengue fever, into humans.

Scott O'Neill, head of the University of Queensland's School of Biological Science, told Reuters: "Dengue virus and the disease it causes is only transmitted to humans by the older female Aedes aegypti mosquito.

"If we can introduce this into populations it should move the management of dengue fever from an outbreak management paradigm to a prevention paradigm."

The research was attempted in light of the fact that, as the report states, "most pathogens require a relatively long period of development in their mosquito vector before they can be transmitted to a new human host".