# Modified Mosquitos - Yea or Nay? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 20, 2020, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modified-mosquitos-yea-or-nay/918526 "2020-08-20T00:25:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 60
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modified-mosquitos-yea-or-nay/918526/60 "2021-08-01T00:07:13Z")
I addressed this exact question back in 2016. Although subsequent research has suggested that Aedes head peptide doesn’t function the way we thought it did back then. Still, in concept it’s possible. > [@Mosquitos: "the eco-system doesn't need them"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mosquitos-the-eco-system-doesnt-need-them/744882/57): > > What we do isn’t magic you know, its hard! That being said, there might be a kernel of wisdom in this. In Aedes aegypti (and ONLY in Aedes aegypti - this doesn’t apply to other mosquito species) there is a gene called “Aedes head peptide” which is a protein hormone turned on in the mosquito brain after taking a blood meal. When it is expressed, it turns off host-seeking behavior and the mosquito doesn’t feed anymore. Other mosquitoes presumably have similar head peptide genes, but they are so… --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modified-mosquitos-yea-or-nay/918526)._