BiotechMashup

The potentially deadly yellow-fever-transmitting Aedes aegypti mosquito detects the specific chemical structure of a compound called octenol as one way to find a mammalian host for a blood meal.

(University of California - Riverside) Experiments performed by entomologists at UC Riverside to study how female Aedes aegypti -- mosquitoes that transmit yellow fever and dengue -- respond to plumes of carbon dioxide and human odor demonstrate that the mosquitoes are first attracted to puffs of exhaled carbon dioxide, then to a broad skin odor plume before landing on a human host. Results from the study could clue scientists on how odors can be used in traps for intercepting host‑seeking mosquitoes.

by Alan J. Grant, Joseph C. Dickens

A team of entomologists has identified a microRNA in female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that when deactivated disrupts the mosquito's blood digestion and egg development -- a discovery that could help control the spread of not only dengue and yellow fever but potentially all vector-borne diseases.

(United States Department of Agriculture -- Research, Education and Economics) Scientists at the US Department of Agriculture have developed two strategies to ward off cattle fever ticks that are crossing the border from Mexico into the United States.

(United States Department of Agriculture-Research, Education, and Economics) Tomorrow's fragrant bouquets and colorful potted plants might last longer, thanks to ARS floriculture research.

(United States Department of Agriculture-Research, Education, and Economics) ARS scientists are discovering more about what goes on inside malting barley grains as they germinate, or sprout, in the malt house.

(United States Department of Agriculture - Research, Education and Economics) US Department of Agriculture scientists have produced the first detailed data on how large-scale dairy facilities contribute to the emission of greenhouse gases. This research was conducted by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists at the ARS Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory in Kimberly, Idaho.

(University of California - Riverside) A team of entomologists at the University of California, Riverside has identified a microRNA in female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that when deactivated disrupts the mosquito's blood digestion and egg development -- a discovery that could help control the spread of not only dengue and yellow fever but potentially all vector-borne diseases.