Little money to form the genome of insects

2001/11/07 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Genetika

Insects have not caught the attention of companies that are still doing genome sequencing. Despite being the most diverse organisms and causing annual damage to crops and livestock of about $ 26 million, researchers have only analyzed the genomes of three insectes. Last year the genome of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster was deciphered.

In the opinion of some researchers, knowledge of the insect genome is important because they are often transporters and contaminants of diseases, but as to carry out these investigations a lot of money is needed, they are not carried out. Therefore, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and researchers have called on Congress to push for a special initiative on the insect genome.

Mosquitoes and climate change

Some mosquitoes have known climate change and have begun to act accordingly. The American mosquito Wyeomyia smithii has a special mechanism to detect seasonal changes. When he realizes that the day begins to shorten he realizes that winter comes and that it is time to fall asleep. The weather has been tempering in recent years, but the days are longer and shorter as before. However, these mosquitoes have adapted their system to the new situation and since winter is more temperate than before, they will fall asleep later. Researchers at the University of Oregon have found that mosquitoes are currently sleeping 9 days after 1972, so they believe they can be one of the first to evolve to adapt to climate change.