{
  "id": 6857202,
  "title": "Functional disruption of vgsc reveals haplosufficiency with implications for insecticide resistance and genetic control in Anopheles gambiae",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/functional-disruption-of-vgsc-reveals-haplosufficiency-with",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-11T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.09.750417v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The research reveals that the vgsc gene in Anopheles gambiae is haplosufficient, meaning it can be viable with just one functional copy of the gene. This finding is significant as it opens up opportunities for using vgsc as a genetic control target in efforts to suppress mosquito populations and combat insecticide resistance. Two CRISPR-edited An. gambiae lines were created: one with an exonic knockout and another with an intronic CRISPR-mediated cassette exchange near SNPs linked to the L995F mutation associated with pyrethroid resistance. These lines proved to be viable and fertile in heterozygosity but homozygous lethal, confirming the haplosufficiency of vgsc. The study also explored the insecticide resistance phenotype of the vgscKO line, finding that knocking out one copy of vgsc reduces susceptibility to deltamethrin and DDT at sub-discriminating doses. This suggests that vgsc-mediated mechanisms play a role in insecticide resistance, providing valuable insights for developing more effective insecticide strategies and genetic control methods against malaria-transmitting mosquitoes.",
  "summary": "Pyrethroid insecticides on bednets have been the mainstay of malaria control since the millennium by killing mosquitoes. The target of these pyrethroids is the voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC). Resistance mutations at the pyrethroid binding site (L995F/S) have spread widely, but functional tools to dissect vgsc itself have lagged behind the population-genetic surveillance data. Manipulation of…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}