To combat prevalence of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito in Jamaica, local researchers are looking to sterilise the vector’s male population to help reduce the species’ overall population.

Johann Antoine, research scientist at the International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences (ICENS), and Dr Sheena Francis, senior lecturer and research fellow at the Natural Products Institute, both spoke to the ongoing research being conducted at the recent staging of the Science for Today public lecture series hosted by The University of the West Indies’ (UWI) Faculty of Science and Technology, titled ‘Killing the Buzz: The Fight against Dengue and other Mosquito-borne Diseases’.

Antoine revealed that the research intends to utilise the sterile insect technique (SIT), which is a biologically based method for the management of key insect pests of agricultural and medical or veterinary importance. It is a component of an area-wide integrated pest management programme.

Francis said the aim of the experiment is to explore how successful sterile male mosquitoes are at competing with the wild male mosquito population to mate with a wild female mosquito population.

It also seeks to answer the question of whether the sterilisation of the male mosquitoes can help to reduce the insect’s population through use of radiation to disrupt the female mosquito’s breeding mechanism.

Photo caption: Dr Sheena Francis and Dr. Johann Antoine with an Aedes Aegypti mosquito.

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