Since old mosquitoes spread diseases, Aussie researchers have been pondering what to do. The conclusion…have the buggers die sooner, without killing them or poisoning them, of course. That won’t work as the PETA mosquito bunch will be all over us, um, them.

Scientists have been trying genetically engineer mosquitoes to become resistant to malaria and dengue fever and such as an alternative to mass spraying of insecticide.

Just recently, researchers have discovered a way to breed mosquitoes to carry an insect parasite that will cause them to die sooner. Mosquitoes born with the parasite lived only 21 days instead of the usual 50 days…not long enough to encounter malaria and endure two weeks of incubation before the bug can spread the disease.

The plan is to somehow let the parasite grow more rapidly, attach to mosquitoes that carry diseases and have the mosquitoes die younger before they can infect anyone.

I don’t know about you, but it seems pretty naive to me to think that somebody thinks they can control the rampant setting free of parasites to kill bugs that are intent on causing diseases.

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The tiger mosquito, native from Asia, became a recent threat to European countries a few years ago when they discovered it already established itself in northern Italy where it has transmitted chikungunya fever to local population. The same mosquito is responsible for the dengue and yellow fever plus 20 other viral diseases. More than a dozen other countries including Germany and the Netherlands have detected the plague, too.

Because the UK climate during the summers is highly suitable for the tiger mosquito to breed, scientists at the Government’s Health Protection Agency (HPA) at Porton Down in Wiltshire are very concerned that England and the Wales may be the next areas to be invaded.

“The mosquito has popped up across Europe and although we haven’t found it yet in the UK, we have identified the potential for it to come here,” a spokesman of the HPA’s Porton Down laboratories said. Though the Health Protection Agency said they have “no confirmed reports” in August 2007, the DailyMail reported on that an Asian mosquito was found in a suburban back garden in Gloucestershire.

Once settled in the country, it could cause a locally spread epidemic. “You do need several steps in the chain for it to become an issue, but it’s something we’ve been keeping an eye on. Most people think of malaria, but there are other things you can catch from mosquitoes,” the same spokesman said.

Over the last few years more and more British people returned from Asia with the chikungunya virus, from 6 in 2004 to more than 130 in 2006. The female mosquito seems to be the most dangerous because she feeds on human blood throughout the day, not just at night, is renowned for her quick and penetrating bite that could transmit diseases extremely fast.