Scientists have come up with a strange solution to stop the breeding of mosquitoes and combat diseases like dengue and Zika—make the male deaf so they are unable to mate and breed.

Mosquitoes mate on the basis of their hearing power while flying in mid-air. They hear the attractive wingbeats of female mosquitoes to find a mate. Researchers arrived at this conclusion after conducting an experiment in which they altered a genetic pathway used by male mosquitoes to hear.

They found that such mosquitoes did not make physical contact with females despite being with them in the same cage for three days. When mosquitoes stop breeding, the numbers will automatically come down.

Female mosquitoes are the ones responsible for causing most of the diseases, and the method can rein in their numbers.

<h2>Wild (non-mutant) mosquitoes fertilised almost all the females</h2>

The experiment was conducted by a team from the University of California, Irvine.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/nightmares-can-be-tamed-with-music-and-some-manipulation-of-emotions-new-study-shows-772214">Nightmares can be tamed with music and some manipulation of emotions, new study shows</a>

They observed the mating habits of the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, responsible for spreading viruses to nearly 400 million people every year.

Mosquitoes can mate from a few seconds to almost a minute.&nbsp;

They then came up with an idea. The scientists targeted a protein called trpVa which is believed to be important for hearing. In the mosquitoes that were experimented on, neurons that help detect sound, showed no response to the flight tones or wingbeats of female mates. In other words, the mosquitoes could not hear anything.

Meanwhile, other mosquitoes mated multiple times with almost all the females in their cages.

The study was published in the journal PNAS. The researchers wrote in the study that the effect of knocking out the gene was "absolute" and the deaf males did not mate at all.&nbsp;

Scientists believe the method can help make the female mosquitoes extinct.

Scientists have come up with a strange solution to stop the breeding of mosquitoes and combat diseases like dengue and Zika—make the male deaf so they are unable to mate and breed.

Scientists have come up with a strange solution to stop the breeding of mosquitoes and combat diseases like dengue and Zika—make the male deaf so they are unable to mate and breed. Mosquitoes mate on the basis of their hearing power while flying in mid-air. They hear the attractive wingbeats of female mosquitoes to find a mate. Researchers arrived at this conclusion after conducting an experiment in which they altered a genetic pathway used by male mosquitoes to hear. They found that such mosquitoes did not make physical contact with females despite being with them in the same cage for three days. When mosquitoes stop breeding, the numbers will automatically come down. Female mosquitoes are the ones responsible for causing most of the diseases, and the method can rein in their numbers. Wild (non-mutant) mosquitoes fertilised almost all the females The experiment was conducted by a team from the University of California, Irvine. Also Read: Nightmares can be tamed with music and some manipulation of emotions, new study shows They observed the mating habits of the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, responsible for spreading viruses to nearly 400 million people every year. Mosquitoes can mate from a few seconds to almost a minute. They then came up with an idea. The scientists targeted a protein called trpVa which is believed to be important for hearing. In the mosquitoes that were experimented on, neurons that help detect sound, showed no response to the flight tones or wingbeats of female mates. In other words, the mosquitoes could not hear anything. Meanwhile, other mosquitoes mated multiple times with almost all the females in their cages. The study was published in the journal PNAS. The researchers wrote in the study that the effect of knocking out the gene was "absolute" and the deaf males did not mate at all. Scientists believe the method can help make the female mosquitoes extinct.

Deaf mosquitoes can't have sex, so scientists see it as a way to combat dengue

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Deaf mosquitoes can't have sex, so scientists see it as a way to combat dengue