Good questions! I figure the bacteria in question could be a modification of an organism that would naturally reside among the mosquito's gut flora. Transmission would come from hosts - a salve containing the bacteria could be spread over the skin of volunteers/animals left standing in mosquito-ridden areas for precisely this purpose. Perhaps a way could be found to spread the bacteria's infection area to the genital tract so as to infect sexual partners and larvae, as well.
As you said, though, there would have to be some incentive for keeping key parts of genome static. Maybe something that would trigger instant cell death if they were messed with? In addition, Plasmodia and other infectious microbes could be killed in such a way that the bacteria can still feed off the remains.
On Saturday, June 2, 2012 4:07:58 PM UTC-4, Matthias wrote:
-- On Saturday, June 2, 2012 4:07:58 PM UTC-4, Matthias wrote:
Sounds like a big undertaking, with all these details
you want to have done at the same time.
And it sounds quite "forced".
Technically it is possible of course, but
the investment would be huge and won't pay off, since there is no
mechanism, by which your engineered bacteria profit
from poisoning disease causing bacteria.
So after a while they will loose this ability,
as well as the diseases becoming resistent.
By "cleaning" the mosquitos they create a habitat,
which will be re-invaded after some time.
What would be the mechanism of spread for your bacteria?
What mosquito-bacteria symbiosis relationships would
you disrupt, thereby motivating the mosquitos to
get rid of your bacteria?
The mosquitos would then also transfer low amounts of
your antibiotic onto the hosts they feed from,
thereby forcing the development of resistant bacteria
in the host as well as in the mosquito.
If all this is answeared, you still have the technical
question how to develop a pathogen that selectively
infects disease spreading mosquitos, inable to mutate
to infect other species, and being biochemically able
to invade and life inside a mosquito, being transfered
from mosquito to mosquito.
Cheers, Matthias
Am Samstag, den 02.06.2012, 01:12 -0700 schrieb Margret Storm:
> Would it be possible to engineer a contagious bacterial strain that
> resided in the digestive tracts of mosquitoes, and had little effect
> other than releasing antimicrobial enzymes into the pharynx and
> salivary glands? Hopefully, this would prevent the spread of
> mosquito-borne diseases like malaria, as well as help prevent
> secondary infection of bites.
>
>
> Forgive me in advance for any ignorance - the idea has been bugging me
> (hah), and I really want to know.
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "DIYbio" group.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/diybio/-/Z_wSMU_60iMJ.
To post to this group, send email to diybio@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to diybio+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/diybio?hl=en.
0 comments:
Post a Comment