Invisibility?

August 28th, 2021| Topic: RaMbLeS | 0

That bit of apparel from the Harry Potter series—the Cloak of Invisibility—would be a good addition to one’s wardrobe, don’t you think? Especially against those pesky beings that trouble one outdoors in the summer—mosquitoes!

Well, that might turn out to be reality, after all. No, not the cloak, but the lack of visibility to those 3,500 species of small flies in the family Culicidae, the scourge of tens of millions all over the world, causing malaria, dengue, yellow fever, Zika, Chikungunya, West Nile, etc.

Or so claimeth scientists from University of California, Santa Barbara, and University of Washington, Seattle, in “Elimination of Vision-guided Target Attraction in Aedes aegypti using CRISPR,” published in Current Biology.

Apparently Aedes aegypti mosquitoes use dark visual clues to hunt prey. And these enterprising researchers, employing the latest in gene-editing tools, eliminated two of the mosquito’s five light-sensing receptors. And—voila!—the beasties couldn’t visually target humans.

Lead author, Dr. Yinpeng Zhan:

The better we understand how they sense the human, the better we can control the mosquito in an eco-friendly manner.”

Exclaimed another scientist:

Nobody has studied this before; this is a great start to understanding what controls mosquito vision.”

Of course, these critters also use other senses to locate blood, like carbon dioxide and other organic cues from the skin, such as heat, humidity, and odor. But they love to fly straight towards the closest-seeming target—a dark spot. And this last bullseye is what has been eliminated from their sight.

With two light-sensing proteins “knocked out,” those mutant mosquitoes showed no preference between white and black circles. They had lost their ability to seek (and annoy) their hosts, even though they were not rendered totally blind. Just blind to people!

The Bible tells us we have far, far worse tormentors than the humble mosquito. The worst of them all is Satan (and his hordes), always anti-God, and always anti-people.

Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8

But, unlike Aedes aegypti and the other assorted specimens, this one attracts us to himself, for …

… Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
2 Corinthians 11:14

But there is a Cloak of Invisibility.

Well, not exactly. And not exactly rendering us invisible, but effective in warding off the evil one’s assaults.

Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able
to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness,
against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day,
and having done everything, to stand firm.
Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth,
and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able
to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit,
and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.
Ephesians 6:11–22

The Cloak of Invincibility!

SOURCE:
DNYUZ; Current Biology