VOINews, Jakarta: An international team of researchers has developed an automated device capable of efficiently separating male and female mosquitoes, marking a significant technical breakthrough in the biological control of mosquito-borne diseases.
The team, comprising researchers from institutions such as Michigan State University, Jinan University, and Guangzhou Wolbaki Biotech Co., Ltd., published their findings in the international academic journal Science Robotics on Wednesday (July 31).
In recent years, mosquito-borne diseases, particularly dengue fever, have worsened due to climate change and human mobility. Despite chemical control efforts, these pests remain resilient, leading to environmental pollution and drug resistance issues, explained Li Yongjun, a professor at Jinan University.
Highlighting the advantages of biological control, Li stated, "Research has shown that releasing male mosquitoes, which do not bite or transmit diseases, to mate with wild female mosquitoes can effectively control wild mosquito populations."
Although this control technology has been verified in many countries to suppress disease-carrying mosquito populations and reduce the spread of dengue fever, large-scale regional applications worldwide have been hindered by the difficulty in separating male and female mosquitoes.
According to Gong Juntao, a researcher at Guangzhou Wolbaki Biotech Co., Ltd., the team independently developed an automated device capable of efficiently stirring, separating, and collecting mosquito pupae. This automated separator allows operators to separate over 16 million male mosquitoes by working eight hours a day, five days a week, increasing efficiency by 17 times compared to manual gender separation.
The results indicate that this automated device has the potential to effectively help control tropical mosquito-borne diseases, Gong noted.
The device has already been sold to 18 countries, including the United States, Australia, and Italy.
This technological advancement represents a significant step forward in the fight against mosquito-borne diseases, offering a more efficient and environmentally friendly solution for controlling mosquito populations and reducing the spread of diseases like dengue fever.//ANTARA/VOI
