In this opinion paper, we discuss the potential and challenges of using the symbiont Wolbachia to block mosquito transmitted diseases such as dengue, malaria and chikungunya in Latin America.

Mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever, chikungunya or malaria affect millions of people each year and control solutions are urgently needed. An international research program is currently being developed that relies on the introduction of the bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia pipientis into Aedes aegypti to control dengue transmission. In order to prepare for open-field testing releases of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes, an intensive social research and community engagement program was undertaken in Cairns, Northern Australia. The most common concern expressed by the diverse range of community members and stakeholders surveyed was the necessity of assuring the safety of the proposed approach for humans, animals and the environment. To address these concerns a series of safety experiments were undertaken. We report in this paper on the experimental data obtained, discuss the limitations of experimental risk assessment and focus on the necessity of including community concerns in scientific research.

A malária mata milhões de pessoas a cada ano e as estratégias atuais de controle da doença, como inseticidas e drogas não têm sido tão eficientes. Por este motivo, novos meios para o combate à malária são de extrema importância. Avanços no estudo do mosquito vetor e sua interação com o parasito da malária fizeram os cientistas pensarem que é possível a manipulação genética dos mosquitos para torná-los vetores ineficientes. Neste artigo, revisamos os avanços na introdução de genes exógenos na linhagem germinativa de mosquitos, a caracterização de promotores específicos de certos tecidos, a identificação de produtos gênicos que bloqueiam o parasita no mosquito, bem como discutimos a recente geração de mosquitos transgênicos, menos eficientes na transmissão de malária. Enquanto muitos progressos foram obtidos, muitos anos de pesquisa são ainda necessários para que mosquitos transgênicos possam ser utilizados na natureza.

Malaria kills millions of people every year and the current strategies to control the disease, such as insecticides and drugs have not been completely efficient. Because of that, novel means to fight against malaria are of utmost importance. Advances in the study of the mosquito vector and its interactions with the malaria parasite made scientists think that it is possible to genetically manipulate the mosquitoes to make them inefficient vectors. Here we review the advances on the introduction of foreign genes into the mosquito germ line, the characterization of tissue-specific promoters, the identification of gene products that block development of the parasite in the mosquito, and we discuss the recent generation of transgenic mosquitoes impaired for malaria transmission. While much progress has been made, many years of research are still needed before transgenic mosquitoes can be used in the field.

Survival and life cycle of Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) fed Dione juno juno (Cramer) (Lepidoptera: Heliconiidae) larvae were studied at 25 ± 2°C, 65 ± 10% RH and 12 h D:L. Duration of egg stage and of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th stadia was 4.0; 4.0; 4.9; 4.7; 4.8 and 5.8 days, respectively. Survival from 1st instar to adult stage was 67%. The predator took 28 days and the prey 33 days to complete the life cycle.