RNA delivery to mosquito larvae for species-specific control

蚊子传播的疾病每年感染数亿人，造成约100万人 每年的死亡人数。缺乏疫苗来预防最严重的疾病，如疟疾和 登革热，预防这些疾病最有效的方法是蚊子控制计划。化学制品 杀虫剂被广泛使用来消灭人类环境附近的蚊子，但持续使用 广谱化学杀虫剂增加了蚊子对杀虫剂的抗药性 并加剧了对杀虫剂对非目标物种的不利影响的关注。 Cypher Environmental，一家致力于为工业开发环境安全技术的公司 合作伙伴，目前在受疟疾影响的国家有许多业务，并对 开发新的、更安全的方法来控制疟疾蚊子种群。密歇根大学的研究人员 马尼托巴省已经开发出一种通过喂食幼虫RNA分子来使雄性蚊子绝育的技术。 这些不育的雄性蚊子可以被释放到环境中竞争配偶，从而减少 以不含杀虫剂的特定物种方式控制蚊子种群。目前，蚊子的喂食相对 高浓度的RNA，这对大规模生产不育昆虫是不现实的。在这 研究，我们的目标是检测各种新型的可生物降解的微粒，由Cypher Environmental提供， 因为它们能够结合RNA并促进蚊子摄取和吸收RNA分子的能力 效率更高。开发高效地将灭菌RNA分子输送到 昆虫是开发改进的SIT技术以控制蚊子的关键一步 不使用广谱杀虫剂。

Mosquito-borne diseases infect hundreds of millions of people each year, causing approximately one million deaths annually. With a lack of vaccines to protect against the most serious diseases such as malaria and dengue, the most effective methods of preventing these diseases are mosquito control programs. Chemical insecticides are used extensively to eradicate mosquitoes near human environments, but constant use of broad-spectrum chemical pesticides has increased the frequency of insecticide resistance in mosquito populations and has heightened concerns about the adverse effects of the pesticides on non-target species. Cypher Environmental, a company dedicated to developing environmentally-safe technologies for industrial partners, currently has numerous operations in malaria-affected countries, and is keenly interested in developing new, safer methods to control malaria mosquito populations. Researchers at the University of Manitoba have developed a technology to sterilize male mosquitoes by feeding the larvae RNA molecules. These sterile male mosquitoes can be released into the environment to compete for mates, and thereby reduce mosquito populations in a species-specific, pesticide-free manner. Presently, the mosquitoes are fed relatively high concentrations of the RNA, which is not practical for large-scale production of sterile insects. In this study, we aim to examine a variety of novel biodegradable micro-particles, provided by Cypher Environmental, for their ability to bind the RNA and facilitate the mosquito's ability to ingest and absorb the RNA molecules more effectively. The development of new methods of efficiently delivering sterilizing RNA molecules to the insect is an essential step towards the development of an improved SIT technology to control mosquitoes without the use of broad spectrum pesticides.