Army looks to biotech for solutions to protect soldiers from mosquito-borne illnesses

Since the U.S. Army discovered in 1904 that mosquitoes were transmitting yellow fever, malaria, and other diseases, they have been working on ways to protect themselves.

Even in modern times, US troops, deployed to mosquito-infested areas, have been using basic or crude protections.

“We’re talking about soaking uniforms in DEET, which is toxic,” Dimitra Stratis-Cullum, director of synthetic biology at the Army Research Laboratory, said last week, reported Breaking Defense. “Can we actually create a barrier to repel and prevent insects from even infecting the soldier? We have some strategies to do that.”

However, the Army has been making progress on several fronts using biotech solutions in recent years. They are examining the use of genetically engineered microorganisms that can detect and repel a host of invisible threats to U.S. troops, including radiation, poison gas, environmental toxins, and mosquitos.

Engineered microbes are tiny and need no electricity, and the military can infuse new sensors and defenses into soldiers’ uniforms without ever injecting a foreign substance into their bodies.

Battelle scientist Justin Sanchez said it is also possible to use the gene-editing enzyme CRISPR-Cas9 to alter a microorganism’s DNA, so it exudes a volatile odor that repels insects, Breaking Defense reported.

The Navy is also looking at similar biotech protections, Sarah Glaven, a Naval Research Lab biologist, told Breaking Defense. They are looking to produce melanin, which humans naturally produce to protect their skin against solar radiation, and then infuse it into uniforms.