Do you know, mosquito genes can activate in animals in response to climate change? Researchers for the first time have developed a chromosomal map revealing regions of chromosomes that activate in animals as a response to climate change. The chromosomal regions seem to also apparently evolve in a similar response.
The chromosomal map for the mosquito — Wyeomyia smithii — develops within the pitcher plants’ carnivorous leaves. The newly designed map will help researchers focus into identifying specific genes capable of controlling the animal’s seasonal development. It is also groundbreaking in providing information to assist researchers in ‘
* Finding animals that may survive in the changing climates,
* Identifying the disease-carrying vectors that may move northward,
* Allowing for the production of appropriate vaccines.
William E. Bradshaw and Christina M. Holzapfel, both researching in the department of biology hopes the new chromosomal map may provide with such assistances in the fields of researches.
Bradshaw said,
For the first time, we are moving down the track to identify genes that animals use to control their seasonal development. Response to day length is often the primary cue that organisms use for going dormant, and although human beings are not as strongly seasonal as other animals, there are nonetheless seasonal components to our health and welfare just as there are in plants and animals.
So, should now mosquitoes be considered as another indicator of climate change?
