---
title: "Mosquito “Birth Control” Could Prevent Millions of Deaths"
description: "A drug that blocks a protein essential for mosquito reproduction could help prevent the spread of malaria and other fatal diseases."
date: "2019-01-09"
modified: "2019-01-09"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/mosquito-birth-control-prevent-deaths"
categories:
  - "Health & Medicine"
tags:
  - "malaria"
  - "mosquito"
  - "Protein"
  - "the digest"
---

# Mosquito “Birth Control” Could Prevent Millions of Deaths

![mosquito](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/BirthControlMosq.png>)
*Image Credit: Tag Hartman-Simkins \<em\>Image: Tag Hartman-Simkins\</em\>*

## Killer Bite

Mosquitoes are the [deadliest creatures on Earth](<https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/Most-Lethal-Animal-Mosquito-Week>) — each year, nearly a million people die from a disease they caught from one of the tiny insects.

Rather than focusing on finding a cure for bug-borne diseases like malaria and Zika, a team of scientists from the University of Arizona decided to focus their research directly on mosquitoes. In the process, they [found a protein](<https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/fighting-human-disease-birth-control-mosquitoes>) seemingly essential for mosquito reproduction — and the discovery could lead to the creation of a drug that acts as "birth control" for the tiny killers.

## Egg-celent Discovery

The researchers describe their discovery of the protein Eggshell Organizing Factor 1, or EOF-1, in a [report](<http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3000068>) published in the journal *PLoS Biology* on Tuesday.

First, they identified 40 genes unique to mosquitoes. Then they used a technique known as RNA interference, or RNAi, to inhibit these genes one by one.

They learned that inhibiting the EOF-1 gene affected the formation of the mosquito's eggshell, causing mosquito embryos to die. The effect of a single RNAi injection lasted for the lifetime of the mosquito, too.

The team believes a drug designed to inhibit EOF-1 could act like birth control for mosquitoes.

"Since the days of [DDT](<https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/ddt-brief-history-and-status>), we have known that mosquito population control works to reduce the incidence of human disease," researcher Roger Miesfeld said in a [news release](<https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/fighting-human-disease-birth-control-mosquitoes>). "This could be a next-generation tool that could be applied to bed nets and other areas frequented by mosquitoes."

## Less Risky Business

This isn't the first research targeting mosquitoes to address disease. However, it might be one of the least risky.

Gene editing is proving effective at wiping out [mosquito populations](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/gene-drive-mosquitos-crispr>), but the technique has the potential to permanently [alter the ecosystem](<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/25/gm-mosquitoes-released-burkina-faso-malaria-gene-drive>) in unforeseen ways. Because EOF-1 only exists in mosquitoes, drugs designed to impact that protein wouldn't affect any other organisms if deployed in the wild.

"We think this strategy may have a much lower chance of harming other organisms than what is being used today," Miesfeld said.

**READ MORE:** [Fighting Human Disease With Birth Control… for Mosquitoes](<https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/fighting-human-disease-birth-control-mosquitoes>) \[University of Arizona\]

***More on mosquitoes:** [Scientists Wiped out a Mosquito Population by Hacking Their DNA With CRISPR](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/gene-drive-mosquitos-crispr>)*

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)