| Global warming and erratic precipitation patterns have meant tropical diseases have spread to temperate climate zones, or in other words allowed mosquitoes — which are vectors for a whole range of diseases including dengue, malaria, chikungunya and Zika — to thrive in new neighborhoods. A record 13.8 million cases of dengue were reported in 2024, according to the World Health Organization. More than 4 billion people are already at risk of mosquito-borne infections, and the number is estimated to rise to 5 billion by 2050.  An improvised military aid station set up to treat suspected cases of dengue fever on the outskirts of Brasilia, in February 2024. Photographer: Sergio Lima/AFP/Getty Images With traditional methods such as mosquito repellants and habitat cleansing proving inadequate to tackle the growing challenge, countries are working with civil society groups and startups toward a different approach: weaponizing mosquitoes with a bacteria called Wolbachia to suppress the mosquito population or reduce their ability to carry and transmit diseases. Singapore is one of them. I visited one of Singapore's labs, where the wealthy city-state has been breeding millions of mosquitoes per week with the Wolbachia bacteria since 2016. The bacteria suppresses the ability of mosquitoes to harbor and transmit diseases, and when the lab-grown males mate in the wild, it ensures the eggs laid by the uninfected female don't hatch.  A researcher releases Wolbachia infected mosquitos at a public housing complex in Singapore, in October 2024. Photographer: Karoline Kan/Bloomberg I was impressed by the efficiency of the process, assisted by an AI-based computing system. The researchers showed me how to move the eggs to the hatchery, a bright room where the temperature and humidity are controlled. As the eggs placed in water-filled trays grow into larvae in a few days, they are counted and transferred to bigger trays where they are fed. Researchers then separate the sexes based on the size of male and female. This process, previously done manually, now employs an automation system that makes the sex separation faster and more accurate. Many countries are working with the non-profit World Mosquito Program on similar programs that are cheaper because they don't separate the sexes. Because the females are also released in the wild, they can pass the bacteria to the offsprings to reduce the mosquitoes' ability to transmit dengue, making the approach self-sustained.  Enclosures with mosquitos at a lab at the Project Wolbachia facility of National Environment Agency in Singapore. Photographer: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg The trial sites have shown some promising results, but it's still difficult to widely and quickly introduce the technology to more regions affected by dengue. There are a few obstacles, experts told me. One being the cost, because there isn't a global fund to fight dengue, and the other — the public's acceptance, because it's still a novel technology and prone to conspiracy theories. Then, there is also the question of how to convince governments, which are often overwhelmed with other immediate priorities. It's such a novelty that getting people to be the first adopters has been challenging, WMP's founder and Chief Executive Officer Scott O'Neill told me. The exercise involves a fairly long timeframe, but often governments have a much shorter timeline in mind, he said. "So there's challenges around the price and the cost and the financing of that cost for governments, particularly in very poor countries." To learn more about how this novel approach would make a real difference in the fight against record dengue cases, read our full story here. — Karoline Kan | 
No comments:
Post a Comment