By feeding mosquitoes diet drugs, we could prevent them from biting and spreading diseases to humans.
Scientists involved with the research found out that female mosquitoes who transfer microbes that kill millions of people each year lose interest in appetite for human blood due to certain chemicals.
The study was published in the journal Cell, it shows that by manipulating hormones mosquitoes feel full.
Leslie Vosshall the study author said, “We were impressed and amazed that drugs designed to affect human appetite worked perfectly to suppress mosquito appetite.”
The research still in early stages carried out experiments on female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which require human blood for the proteins they need to produce eggs. These species are responsible for spreading yellow fever, zika virus, and dengue fever.
The research noted that once these mosquitoes feed on human blood, they get bloated, declining their attraction towards human blood for several days.
Scientists gave mosquitoes a saline solution containing drugs, this sharply dropped appetite and attraction towards human blood.
In humans the neuropeptide Y (NPY) receptors regulate food intake. However in mosquitoes researchers still need to identify the receptor that regulates food intake. They tested all the 49 receptors in mosquitoes and shortlisted potential 9 that could work the trick.
Medical professors found the research very “fascinating” and “very plausible.”