Using part of an antibody isolated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center that “broadly neutralizes” the human dengue virus, biologists at the University of California San Diego and colleagues have disarmed the mosquito that transmits the disabling and potentially deadly tropical infection.
Reporting in PLOS Pathogens, published by the Public Library of Science, the researchers describe the first genetically engineered approach targeting all four serotypes or strains of the dengue virus, a crucial step for stopping the spread of the disease.
The findings suggest that similar genetic strategies could be developed to control other mosquito-borne arboviruses, including Zika and chikungunya, against which neutralizing antibodies also have been developed, the researchers concluded.
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