Wolbachia Mosquitoes: A Natural Ally in the Fight Against Infectious Diseases

Transmission electron microscope image of the symbiotic bacterium ‘Wolbachia’ (marked W), which lives inside the cells of many insect species. It was found that when Aedes a Egypti mosquitoes, carriers of pathogenic viruses, are infected with the Wolbachia bacterium, the proliferation of the virus is inhibited, resulting in a decrease in the mosquito’s ability to transmit the virus. Provided by the World Mosquito Program (WMP)

Oh Cheol-woo, a professor at Hanbat National University (science and technology), defeats viruses with bacteria. A few days ago ‘Nature’, in an article which predicted important scientific news for the new year, mentioned among his interests the project for the production plant of the ‘Wolbachia mosquito’ which will be built in Brazil. Nature said the mosquito production plant “will breed up to 5 billion Wolbachia mosquitoes every year over the next 10 years.” What is it about Wolbachia mosquitoes that attract so much attention? Wolbachia (English pronunciation ‘Olbachia’) is the name of a symbiotic bacterium that lives inside the cells of insects. However, because this bacterium has been found to suppress the proliferation of viruses within cells, over the past 10 years it has become an ally in the fight against new infectious diseases (The Hankyoreh, January 22, 2020). , Zika and chikungunya, because if infected with Bachia and released, mosquitoes in the wild naturally transform into Wolbachia mosquitoes through mating, resulting in fewer viral infections. The goal of this project is to gradually replace wild virus-transmitted Aedes a Egypti mosquitoes with Wolbachia mosquitoes in Brazil, which is affected by viral infectious diseases. The World Mosquito Program (WMP), a non-profit organization, played a significant role until a large-scale project was realized. This organization, founded by Scott O’Neill, a professor at Monash University in Australia who first discovered Wolbachia’s ability to suppress viruses in 2008, has released Wolbachia mosquitoes in Australia, Vietnam, Colombia, Brazil, Indonesia, etc. and confirmed its effectiveness in reducing infectious diseases. Outdoor testing continued. The results of the field test aroused great interest. A study conducted in Indonesia reported in 2020 that the incidence of dengue fever was reduced by 77%. Last October, results were announced showing that dengue fever cases have fallen by more than 90 percent since 2015, when Wolbachia mosquitoes were released in Colombia. The effect varied depending on local conditions. Test results from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, announced last year, showed that the reduction rate was only 38%. The Brazilian Wolbachia mosquito production plant is expected to be the first large-scale dengue fever eradication project following trials conducted over the past 10 years. The reason why Wolbachia mosquitoes attract attention is the expectation that this method can be a safe method to combat viral infectious diseases. The World Mosquito Program emphasizes that, compared to methods such as mass spraying of pesticides or the release of sterile mosquitoes through radiation and genetic modification, Wolbachia mosquitoes are a safe and natural method for both humans and natural ecosystems. The Wolbachia mosquito can replace the population of virus-borne mosquitoes through natural reproduction without eliminating the mosquito species itself. Wolbachia mosquitoes are not a complete panacea. In field experiments it demonstrated significant efficacy against the dengue virus, but not against other viruses such as Zika or Chikungunya. Continue your search to find new varieties of Wolbachia. Unlike the World Mosquito Program, technology to reduce mosquito populations by causing sterility with Wolbachia mosquitoes is also being researched and developed. Several public health technologies are being developed to repel mosquitoes by attracting a microbial ally called Wolbachia.
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