RNAi as an alternative approach against mosquitoes (Culicidae)

Mosquitoes pose a serious risk to human health. Every year, approximately 700 million people worldwide get infected with mosquito-borne diseases, including malaria, dengue fever and chikungunya fever. In the past, these diseases were associated with tropical and subtropical regions, but now, due to climate change, they are occurring more and more frequently in Europe. Unfortunately, there are currently only insufficient prevention and control measures, so that the development of new control strategies is urgently needed. 

Therefore, I am leading a junior research group at the Justus-Liebig University in Giessen since May 2021. The focus of our research is the development of alternative control strategies against mosquitoes based on so-called RNA interference, or RNAi for short. This natural, highly conserved defense mechanism can be used to specifically switch off genes that are involved in important metabolic processes, for example. This allows species-specific controlling that can be used to protect biodiversity.