Researchers probe mystery of mosquito immunity
Members of the College of Science's Vector Borne Disease Research Group at Virginia Tech are using ancient pieces of genetic material as tools to explore the immune system of mosquitoes that play host to pathogens.
Assistant professors of entomology Zach Adelman, who researches the biology of the vector and Kevin Myles, who studies viruses, are collaborating to understand mosquito-virus interaction. They are testing the hypothesis that mosquitoes – just like plants, worms, humans, and other life forms – have an innate immunity mechanism based on RNA interference (RNAi).
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