Scientists use atomic radiation on mosquitoes to stop the spread of disease outbreaks 

After over 41,000 cases of dengue in Argentina, scientists are fighting the outbreak by sterilising mosquitoes using radiation. 

As Argentina fights one of its worst dengue outbreaks in recent history, scientists are now using radiation that alters the DNA of mosquitoes, in order to fight the spread of the disease.  

Argentine has already recorded over 41,000 cases of dengue, which as per Reuters, is much higher than some of the worst outbreaks in the country in 2016 and 2020.  

Marianela Garcia Alba, a biologist from the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) said, “This mosquito, due to the rise in temperature in our country and the world… is able to spread more. Their population keeps on moving further south”.  

Scientists at CNEA have been experimenting with the atomic sterilisation of mosquitoes since 2016 and are presently sterilising over 10,000 males per week.  

Their aim is to increase that number to over 500,000. The first batch of sterilised mosquitoes will then be released in November 2023.  

Explaining the process of sterilising the mosquitoes, Garcia Alba states that “They are sterilised through ionizing energy, and those sterile males are freed into the fields and when they meet with a wild female, their offspring are not viable”.  

“This way, by the successive release of such males, we’ll be able to reduce the population of the vector mosquito.”

Dengue spreads through bites from aedes aegypti mosquitoes and the symptoms include fever, eye, head, muscle, and joint pain, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue. 

Similar techniques on mosquitoes have been used in Spain as well since 2017, as part of a pilot project promoted by the government in the Ribera Baixa region of Valencia.  

Over nine million sterile males are being released now in Spain, which is aimed to combat the tiger mosquito.