Mosquito Gene Cloned; The End May Be Near

French and U.S. scientists have for the first time cloned the gene responsible for insecticide resistance in the southern house mosquito, the first cloning of an insecticide-resistance gene in any higher animal.

The achievement also demonstrated that gene amplification occurs in animals. Amplification refers to the presence of multiple copies of a gene which, until now, has only been observed in cultured cancer cells and in bacteria.

The findings, reported in a recent issue of Science magazine by researchers at the University of California, Riverside, and several French institutes, are a major step in the understanding of how insects develop resistance to pesticides and may lead to more efficient methods to control such insects, said George Georghiou, UC Riverside entomologist.

The research opens many new avenues for investigation, added French geneticist Nicole Pasteur. “For example, scientists may now produce DNA probes to help identify the presence of similar resistance genes in other insect pests.”

The southern house mosquito is predominant throughout the southern United States and transmits several diseases, including encephalitis.