currentsinbiology:

US reviews plan to infect mosquitoes with bacteria to stop disease

The United States could soon become the first country to approve the
commercial use of a common bacterium to fight the spread of mosquitoes
that can transmit viruses such as Zika, dengue and Chikungunya.

The
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reviewing an application
from the biotechnology start-up MosquitoMate to use the bacterium Wolbachia pipientis as a tool against the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus). The company plans to market Wolbachia
as a pesticide — one that kills only mosquitoes, and leaves other
insects untouched. The EPA’s decision on the matter will come after a
public-comment period that ends on 31 May.

Nature

533,

450–451

(26 May 2016)

doi:10.1038/533450a

Male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria are unable to produce offspring.
Jodi Holeman