¿Mosquitos para contrarrestar el Zika?

Google tiene previsto lanzar un ejército de mosquitos para combatir este virus.

Actualizado el 09 julio 2020 12:45hrs
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Photographer: James Gathany
2006 Prof. Frank Hadley Collins, Dir., Cntr. for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, Univ. of Notre Dame This 2006 photograph depicted a female Aedes aegypti mosquito while she was in the process of acquiring a blood meal from her human host, who in this instance, was actually the biomedical photographer, James Gathany, here at the Centers for Disease Control. You’ll note the feeding apparatus consisting of a sharp, “fascicle”, which while not feeding, is covered in a soft, pliant sheath called the “labellum”, which is seen here retracted, as the sharp “stylets” contained within pierced the host’s skin surface, as the insect obtained its blood meal. The fascicle is composed of a pair of needle-sharp stylets. The larger of the two stylets, known as the “labrum”, when viewed in cross-section takes on the shape of an inverted “V”, and acts as a gutter, which directs the ingested host blood towards the insect’s mouth. This female’s abdomen had become distended due to the blood meal she was ingesting, imparting the red coloration to her translucent abdominal exoskeleton. The first reported epidemics of Dengue (DF) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) occurred in 1779-1780 in Asia, Africa, and North America. The near simultaneous occurrence of outbreaks on three continents indicates that these viruses and their mosquito vector have had a worldwide distribution in the tropics for more than 200 years. During most of this time, DF was considered a mild, nonfatal disease of visitors to the tropics. Generally, there were long intervals (10-40 years) between major epidemics, mainly because the introduction of a new serotype in a susceptible population occurred only if viruses and their mosquito vector, primarily the Aedes aegypti mosquito, could survive the slow transport between population centers by sailing vessels.

Con la liberación en California de 20 millones de mosquitos de la especie Aedes Aegypti modificados con una bacteria que les impide procrear con las hembras, esta empresa pretende acabar con la propagación de enfermedades como el Zika o fiebre del dengue.

¿Cómo? La división científica de Alphabet (empresa madre de Google), conocida como Verily ha creado una máquina capaz de criar cuando menos un millón de estos insectos por semana, cuyos machos son tratados con una bacteria para hacerlos estériles, por lo tanto, por mucho que se apareen por las hembras, los huevos nunca eclosionan. Además, los machos no pican a los humanos.

Por tal razón, mediante un procedimiento automatizado de selección por sexo, se asegurarán de liberar únicamente a los machos y así, los mosquitos “malos” desaparecerán poco a poco sin necesidad de sustancias tóxicas para nuestro ambiente. Aquí el video que explica a más detalle:
El proyecto es el primero que desarrolla Estados Unidos con estas características y será el condado de Fresno, California, donde se harán los primeros ensayos. En las próximas semanas se estudiarán los resultados de este experimento supervisado por laAgencia de Protección Ambiental de ese país.

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