Researchers invented a 3D-printed device to scan mosquito excrement for viruses, the same way wastewaster is monitored for the spread of disease
By Cara Lynn Shultz
Published on September 17, 2026 11:23AM EDT
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(599x0:601x2):format(webp)/dana-price-with-trap-091626-152b86c5a0aa4313a091e8c042946009.jpg)
Dana Price with the ‘mosquito toilet’.
Credit : Dana Price
NEED TO KNOW
- Researchers created a 3D-printed device to collect mosquito waste and study viruses they may carry
- They discovered genetic evidence of new viruses, including one previously found in snowy owls in Europe
- The goal is to develop technology that monitors mosquito waste for emerging viruses and health threats
After noticing how the spread of viruses like COVID-19 are monitored through wastewater, entomologist Dana Price decided to apply that same principle to mosquitoes, which transmit illnesses like West Nile, Zika and dengue.
“What we did, colloquially, was build a mosquito toilet,” Price, an associate professor at the Center for Vector Biology, Department of Entomology in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University, said in a press release from the school. Price and his fellow researchers created a 3D-printed funnel and collected waste from Culex mosquitoes in a New Brunswick, N.J., yard between Sept. 12, 2021 and Sept. 21, 2022. Their results were published in Microbiology Spectrum.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(999x0:1001x2):format(webp)/Culex-Mosquito-091626-c7420cfbf3d7498eb3499f8cdba0eb6e.jpg)
Stock image of the Culex mosquito, which can transmit viruses to humans.
Getty
Along with “well-characterized pathogens like West Nile virus,” the researchers said they discovered genetic evidence of Hedwig-like viruses — relatively new viruses that were discovered in snowy owls in Europe and named after Harry Potter‘s beloved owl.
“We didn’t even look for it specifically,” Price said in the press release. “We just looked for everything, and we found Hedwig in there.” He’s now working with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish and Wildlife to examine recently deceased birds for the virus.
“We not only identified novel records of existing strains but also uncovered undescribed viruses,” the research says. They found an “entire viral genome” of the West Nile virus, and evidence of other parasites. And as Price explained, “If you don’t look for it, you won’t find it. But what if you don’t know what to look for?”
“The more data we generate, the more we start to wonder if everything is everywhere,” Price said. “Although we don’t yet know how much of everything is everywhere, it may be a lot more than we realize.”
Getty
Along with “well-characterized pathogens like West Nile virus,” the researchers said they discovered genetic evidence of Hedwig-like viruses — relatively new viruses that were discovered in snowy owls in Europe and named after Harry Potter‘s beloved owl.
“We didn’t even look for it specifically,” Price said in the press release. “We just looked for everything, and we found Hedwig in there.” He’s now working with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish and Wildlife to examine recently deceased birds for the virus.
“We not only identified novel records of existing strains but also uncovered undescribed viruses,” the research says. They found an “entire viral genome” of the West Nile virus, and evidence of other parasites. And as Price explained, “If you don’t look for it, you won’t find it. But what if you don’t know what to look for?”
“The more data we generate, the more we start to wonder if everything is everywhere,” Price said. “Although we don’t yet know how much of everything is everywhere, it may be a lot more than we realize.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(398x0:400x2):format(webp)/dana-price-with-trap-091626-1-9d351dd8dfac420f87dc2ad53e910e44.jpg)
Dana Price holds a tube containing mosquito waste.
Dana Price
He said the goal is to create a device that can test mosquito excrement and alert officials if there is a new virus or health threat. “The pie-in-the-sky idea is a device that we place in a forest somewhere, and it’s constantly just beaming back data to us,” Price noted.
Dana Price
He said the goal is to create a device that can test mosquito excrement and alert officials if there is a new virus or health threat. “The pie-in-the-sky idea is a device that we place in a forest somewhere, and it’s constantly just beaming back data to us,” Price noted.
No comments:
Post a Comment