Germ warfare on mosquitoes could beat malaria and dengue fever, according to Science News (AAAS) 23 October 2014 and PLoS Pathogen doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004398. Mosquitoes are well known for spreading malaria and dengue fever, but they must first be infected with malaria parasites and dengue fever viruses before they can pass them onto humans. Like humans and animals, mosquitoes have bacteria and other microbes living in their digestive tracts. Most of these do no harm, and can help keep out disease-causing microbes.
The researchers hope to find a way of using this bacterium to help stop the spread of malaria and dengue fever by deliberately infecting mosquitoes with Chromobacterium using sugar solution baits. This would kill many of the mosquitoes, and hinder the survivors from spreading disease. The scientists also hope to develop ways to use the factors secreted by the bacterium to directly kill disease-causing microbes.
Editorial Comment: Note the means of infecting the mosquitoes via sugar solution, i.e. they did not have to feed mosquitoes blood. Although mosquitoes are notorious for biting people and sucking blood, male mosquitoes are exclusive vegetarian, and all get their energy from drinking nectar and other plant juices. Only the female spreads disease because she needs extra iron and protein in order to lay eggs, so that is when they start biting people. Blood is a good source of iron and protein. If they could get these nutrients from plants they would not have to bite people, and would not be infecting them with malaria, dengue and other diseases. This would have been the case in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were naked, but did not have to fear being bitten by mosquitoes.
Furthermore, healthy female mosquitoes don’t transmit disease. Only sick mosquitoes transfer parasites and viruses, and research has shown that sick mosquitoes have busted immune systems because of degeneration, which would not have been present in God’s original good world. Mosquito borne diseases are a reminder that many diseases are the result of the right bugs being in the wrong place, as a result of degeneration of the environment and degeneration of immune systems, in humans and other creatures. (Ref. parasites, diseases, infections. microbes)
Evidence News vol. 14 No. 18
29 October 2013
Creation Research Australia