Community acceptance of yeast interfering RNA larvicide technology for control of Aedes mosquitoes in Trinidad.

ABSTRACT: RNA interference (RNAi), a technique used to investigate gene function in insects and other organisms, is attracting attention as a potential new technology for mosquito control. Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker's yeast) was recently engineered to produce interfering RNA molecules that silence genes required for mosquito survival, but which do not correspond to genes in humans or other non-target organisms. The resulting yeast pesticides, which facilitate cost-effective production and delivery of interfering RNA to mosquito larvae that eat the yeast, effectively kill mosquitoes in laboratory and semi-field trials. In preparation for field evaluation of larvicides in Trinidad, a Caribbean island with endemic diseases resulting from pathogens transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, adult residents l

SUBMITTER: Stewart ATM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7428178 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature