Cassie Welander

The world’s largest biofactory for mosquitoes in Brazil plans to release billions of bacteria-infected mosquitoes in order to reduce the increasing number of dengue cases across the country. Dengue cases have been on the rise globally, and 2024 presented one of the worst years for the Americas. Brazil was one of the worst affected countries, with a total of 6.6 million cases and 6,200 deaths reported. Dengue is a viral infection, spread by mosquitoes from human to human when they bite.

Step aside conventional methods, using insects in your chemical synthesis is the new trend. When struggling to synthesise a complex molecule, synthetic chemists can turn to a few options. They can take a different synthetic pathway, try different conditions to conduct the reaction in or even use a chemical or biological catalyst. Researchers from Japan, however, have taken a fascinating new approach — using an insect to do the hard work.

On a sunny summer’s day on an Australian mountainside, a phenomenal sight awaits. It’s not the rocky descent that looms ominously below, nor the breathtaking views of snowy mountaintops. This special spot, around 1 900 m above sea level in elevation, hides a secret in the crevices and caves that lie between the rocks. Stepping into one of these caves the sight stands before you. You quickly realise that the walls are not covered in moss like they seem but are in fact alive.