Mosquito

Scientists at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) have genetically engineered the first breed of mosquitoes with resistance to all four serotypes of dengue fever.

It's definitely annoying when you're trying to swat a mosquito that's flying around a room, but you lose track of where it is. Bzigo is designed to help, as it optically-tracks mozzies and then highlights them with an eye-safe laser.

Genetic studies of the West African mosquitoes Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles coluzzii show that binding proteins on the insects' legs help them to avoid bed nets that have been treated with mosquito-killing chemicals.

Not only do bed nets help protect people against mosquitoes, but if those nets are treated with an insecticide, they also kill insects that touch them. A simple new technology could make such nets more lethal to mosquitoes, yet also safer for humans.

Despite a published study saying different, Oxitec and experts argue that a genetically-modified mosquito release program in Brazil was safe after all.

An experimental pest control method using genetically-modified mosquitoes has gone wrong, mixing mutant genes into Brazil's wild mosquito population.

Scientists are getting good results at repelling mosquitoes using graphene.

​Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that transmits diseases such as dengue, zika, and yellow fever, is typically controlled utilizing insecticides that harm the environment. Now, however, scientists have created eco-friendly mozzie-killing microcapsules, made from cheap natural thyme oil and corn starch.

​In order to better trap or evade malaria-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, it helps if we know more about the manner in which they track their victims. New research now indicates that it's a matter not just of smell, but also enhanced visual processing that's triggered BY smell.

​An estimated 429,000 people die from malaria annually. And while it's tempting to spray heavily for the mosquitoes that spread the disease, conventional insecticides are also toxic to humans and other animals. Now, however, a neurotoxin has been discovered that only kills the offending mosquitoes.

A genetically modified fungus designed to safely reduce malaria-spreading mosquito populations has been successfully tested outside of laboratory conditions in a simulated village environment. The trial decimated the mosquito population in 45 days paving the way for more trials in open environments.

​If the mosquitos in a given area are carrying a potentially lethal virus, then the sooner that local health authorities know about it, the better. According to new research, traps that collect the insects' liquid waste may allow that to happen – and cheaply, too.