New method advances research on controlling mosquitoes using nuclear techniques (French Edition)

A pioneering method unveiled in December 2016 for separating male and female mosquitoes could be a major step towards using the nuclear-based sterile insect technique (SIT) to control the insects that transmit diseases such as Zika, dengue and chikunguya. SIT involves using ionizing radiation to sterilize mass-reared insects of the target pest and then releasing them into nature where they mate with wild insects, resulting in no offspring and, over time, reducing the overall insect population. SIT has been employed successfully in over 40 countries against agricultural pests such as fruit flies, tsetse flies, screwworm and moth pests, and research on its application against Aedes mosquitoes has intensified in the wake of the Zika crisis last year. The IAEA, in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is spearheading global research in the development and application of SIT, including against Aedes mosquitoes.