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- Winner of the flies: dangerous mosquitoes and locusts will be destroyed with the help of a magnetic field
Winner of the flies: dangerous mosquitoes and locusts will be destroyed with the help of a magnetic field
Experiments by an international group of scientists have shown that changes in the magnetic field can significantly affect the behavior of insects. Exposure to it can change the direction of their migration and disrupt the breeding cycle. These data will potentially make it possible to control various pests, from termites to locusts. The day before, US President Donald Trump instructed relevant ministries and departments to reduce the population of Washington mosquitoes by 90% and identify the most effective technologies for this. According to experts, the use of the "magnetic compass" of insects for such purposes may be promising. However, interference with the mechanism of magnetic orientation can lead to unpredictable consequences.
The effect of the magnetic field on insects
A group of Chinese scientists with the participation of specialists from the I.D. Papanin Institute of Biology of Inland Waters of the Russian Academy of Sciences investigated the effect of magnetic field changes on the behavior of brown cicadas, dangerous pests that damage rice crops in different countries of the world. The analysis showed that the magnetic field has the strongest effect on the Cry1 gene, which, in turn, is involved in regulating the timing of insect migration and reproduction. With a decrease in the magnetic field to almost zero, cicadas also had pronounced metabolic disorders.
"The Cry1 knockdown disrupted the diurnal hatching rhythm. <...> Combined, natural fluctuations in the geomagnetic field and the effect of an almost zero magnetic field can cause qualitatively different states of the magnetobiological response," the researchers' scientific article says.
As biologist Dmitry Safonov explained to Izvestia, magnetoreception — the ability to perceive a magnetic field — is developed in many insect orders, including mosquitoes, bees, ants, termites, beetles, butterflies and locusts. Special proteins react to the magnetic field, the formation of which depends on light. Therefore, changing the characteristics of the field can potentially influence the behavior of insects.
— Thanks to special proteins, insects navigate in space and determine the time of day. If you change the magnetic field or disrupt its perception, their internal compass gets lost. They don't understand where to fly, where to look for food, hatch from an egg or mate," the specialist said.
At the same time, different types of insects can react to magnetic effects in different ways. Therefore, if the exposure parameters are not precise enough, there is a risk of harming useful species, such as bees.
— Such methods should also be used against pests. These technologies are actively developing now. This can disrupt the migration of rice cicadas or locusts, as a result of which they can starve to death, as well as disrupt their development cycle and increase larval mortality. If the weakened population is then treated with drugs, this can increase the effectiveness of such control, reduce the required dose and reduce the impact on the environment," said Dmitry Safonov.
Magnetic effects can potentially disorient disease vectors, such as mosquitoes or just pesky midges. This can make it difficult for them to find warm-blooded animals and humans. However, each type of pest requires its own exposure parameters. So far, such approaches remain at the stage of laboratory research and are far from practical application, the specialist emphasized.
The need to control harmful and invasive insects arises in different countries. For example, US President Donald Trump has instructed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other federal agencies to reduce the number of invasive mosquito species in Washington by at least 90% by 2028. The EPA is also required to promptly "register new methods or means of tick control" provided that they are found to be "safe and effective."
Practical implementation of the technology
The impact on insect genes responsible for the perception of the magnetic field can lead to global and irreversible consequences, according to Igor Shkradyuk, coordinator of the industrial greening program at the Wildlife Conservation Center.
— Technical possibilities to influence genes already exist. These are mainly chemicals (for example, enzymes) that can affect certain parts of DNA. For example, if you treat a locust in this way and turn off the gene responsible for orientation in a magnetic field, it will lose its ability to navigate, but it will continue to feed and reproduce. As a result, it can destroy huge areas of crops, but we don't know what it will eventually lead to. Therefore, before using such technology, it is necessary to carefully calculate all the risks," he said.
According to NTI expert on crop production Yulia Barankina, the main significance of the study is that it provides farmers with a new potential target for pest control. Many of them, including the rice cicada, quickly adapt to common insecticides, so the industry needs products with a different mechanism of action. However, beneficial insects, such as bees, have similar genes. Therefore, the key task of the developers will be the selectivity of exposure: the product should suppress pests without affecting pollinators.
— I think such methods may be suitable against migratory pests that travel long distances and depend on navigation. These are rice cicadas, locusts, and a number of species of scoops. If you disrupt their orientation, you can reduce attacks on crops even before the pests reach high numbers. For Russia, this is especially important for the southern regions, where outbreaks of locust numbers are regularly recorded," she said.
As Ksenia Lebedeva-Georgievskaya, curator of chemistry and biology at the RUDN University Evening School of Natural Sciences, explained to Izvestia, there are technologies for genetic modification of plants, thanks to which they can produce proteins that affect the mechanism of perception of the magnetic field by insects. However, the use of such approaches is associated with risks, in particular with potential negative effects on beneficial organisms and humans.
According to Vladimir Pinaev, a member of the Public Council of the Basic Organization of the CIS Member States for Environmental Education, studies of the influence of the magnetic field are carried out using Helmholtz coils, which allow creating an artificial and controlled environment. However, it differs significantly from natural conditions, where insects are simultaneously affected by many other factors — temperature, humidity, predators and pathogens.
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