Fighting Zika With Wolbachia
From Forbes:
The Wolbachia bacteria is likely to become a new weapon in the arsenal against the spreading Zika virus. Currently under trials in several countries for fighting another mosquito born disease -- Dengue Fever -- Wolbachia, has shown great promise in its initial Dengue trials in Australia. Wolbachia prevents mosquitos from becoming infected with RNA viruses like the Zika arbovirus, but is normally not found in mosquitos and must be introduced When used as a vehicle for establishing genetic drives in mosquito populations Wolbachia acts to prevent females from producing eggs when mated with an infected male and if an infected female mates with an infected male it passes the Wolbachia onto its offspring via its eggs.
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