The Transgenic Fungus Delivered From Spider Venom Will Help Kill Mosquitoes

The deadly disease - malaria - has been killing 400,000 people every year, with the help of the primary transmitting insect - the troublesome mosquitoes. We have to do something to stop that by modifying the genes of fungus.

Luckily, the University of Maryland (UMD) professionals did find a way to modify a fungus to produce a spider toxin that kills mosquitoes to solve this crisis. According to NPR, in the lab trial, fungus modification had dramatically destroyed mosquito by nearly 100%. Unfortunately, the team also think that the use of genetic engineering is quite controversial lately, and this method may bring out some threats.

The Transgenic Fungus

Reported last Thursday’s in a paper of the journal Science, the fungus modified by UMD professionals to eliminate wild mosquitoes doesn’t have an immediate effect on the insects. It takes time to work and therefore, give mosquitoes a chance to transmit the disease.

In order to boost up the process, the researchers need to produce a toxin from the Australian Blue Mountains funnel-web spider’s venom. The new fungus then is tested with a screen-enclosed West Africa designed setting called “MosquitoSphere” - which mimics a village.

The team first spread out the transgenic fungus on a sheet hung on a wall of the testing area, then test the decreasing speed of mosquito raised in the same area. “The fungus crashed down the mosquito population in 45 days” - said by researcher Brian Lovett on the report. It - the fungus - worked well on even for the insecticide-resistant insect!

The Threat Coming Along

Indeed, this was considered as the first time a transgenic method has been tested in the real world, outside of the lab area, especially with such a dangerous disease like malaria. The fungus itself may work pretty well until now; however, it is unable to deny a threat of genetically engineered organism once it is released into the wild.

From an environmental group called Friends of the Earth, in a report to NPR, Dana Perls stated out his group concern of further urgent damage causing from the test. The transgenic fungus, like all genetic engineering, can bring out, alongside its goodness, uncertain negative health impacts, and unpredictable ripple effects on the environment and other species.