The Vosshall Lab’s work aims to reveal how dengue virus affects mosquito behavior on a molecular and neurobiological level. The results will provide data to understand the mechanisms of viral manipulation in the mosquito nervous system, and will inform public health agencies on the most efficient way to fight mosquitoes based on their behavior. The genes that are identified may also provide novel genome editing targets for innovative vector control strategies that focus on making mosquitoes less effective in locating and biting humans.
The Vosshall lab studies how complex behaviors are controlled by cues from the environment and modulated by the internal physiological state. Working with the dengue and Zika vector mosquito, Aedes aegypti, Vosshall’s research has yielded new knowledge about how sensory stimuli are perceived and processed.
