OEB Seminar Series: Leslie B. Vosshall -- CANCELLED

Leslie B. Vosshall 
Robin Chemers Neustein Professor, The Rockfeller University 
Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Mosquitoes: A Flexible and Dangerous Predator of Humans

Abstract: Female mosquitoes require a blood meal to complete egg development. In carrying out this innate behavior, mosquitoes spread dangerous infectious diseases such as malaria, dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever. Humans attract mosquitoes via multiple sensory cues including emitted body odor, heat, and carbon dioxide in the breath. The mosquito perceives differences in these cues, both between and within species, to determine which animal or human to target for blood-feeding. Vosshall's lab has developed CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing in the Aedes aegypti mosquito with the goal of understanding how sensory cues are integrated by the female mosquito to lead to host-seeking behavior. Recent advances from her group in analyzing the molecular biology of mosquito behavior will be discussed.

Host: OEB Graduate Students