K-State biologist hopes mosquito can break v...( -borne viruses. The Centers for Disease...)

But the mosquito's effectiveness in spreading the disease varies from place to place. Clem wants to find out whether apoptosis plays a role in that variability.

Once his mosquitoes are safely housed in their lab, Clem plans to infect them with genetically altered strains of Sindbis, a virus related to those that cause equine encephalitis. Some strains will contain genes that block apoptosis, Clem said, and others will encourage the process.

He will go on to test other mosquitoes with unaltered strains of Sindbis. The results should suggest whether A. aegypti can be made immune to viruses.

Clem stresses that A. aegypti's living arrangements will be anything but casual. His lab's insectary is approved by the CDC to conform to "arthropod containment level 2," which specifies such things as screened drainage, extensive caulking, and heat-sterilization of equipment and waste. So whatever you're swatting this summer, it won't be one of Clem's mosquitoes.

"Our work will be taking place in a very secure environment," he said.

In the Western Hemisphere, A. aegypti is widespread in Latin America but occupies only bits of the southern United States, particularly south Florida. The species has made a comeback since eradication programs ended in the 1970s, and dengue fever has expanded along with it.

In Kansas, Culex tarsalis and other members of the Culex group do most of the biting. They don't transmit dengue, but C. tarsalis is known to spread West Nile and western equine encephalitis. The world's most troublesome mosquito-borne disease, malaria, is spread by Anopheles gambiae.

One of Clem's students is investigating a dozen or so genes in A. aegypti because of their similarity to genes that control apoptosis in the fruit fly. "But even in humans, the genes are similar in their sequence," Clem said. Thi
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Contact: Rollie Clem
785-532-3172
Kansas State University
21-May-2007