NewsDaily: New DNA coding to track mosquitoes, fight disease

"DNA barcoding" -- a technique that quickly obtains a unique genetic code -- would be used to help identify mosquitoes that spread Elephantiasis, a disease formally known as lymphatic filariasis (LF).

It will be the first time that the genetic coding is deployed against a major world disease, backers of the plan said. DNA barcoding is inspired by the black lines on products that are scanned at supermarket checkouts.

"The problem is that there are a whole series of similar-looking mosquito species," said James Edwards, board president of the Philadelphia-based JRS Biodiversity Foundation which is working with the University of Ghana on the project.

"This will help identify them," he told Reuters in a telephone interview. Mosquitoes have widely differing abilities to transmit LF so identifying species can help refine use of insecticides.

"The ability to precisely identify mosquito species in this way is a promising advance in the battle against LF, an often disfiguring disease that today threatens 1 billion people across roughly 80 countries," a statement said.

"Over 120 million people have the parasitic infection and more than 40 million have been permanently disabled or disfigured," it said.

Elephantiasis results from a microscopic, thread-like worm spread between humans by a mosquito bite. The worm larvae can clog the lymph system and cause grotesque swellings.

via NewsDaily: New DNA coding to track mosquitoes, fight disease.