Researchers in the United States have genetically modified mosquitoes to make humans less attractive to them – a discovery that could dramatically reduce the spread of mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue, malaria and Zika.

Female mosquitoes have been long known to use an array of sensory information to find people to bite.

They can sense exhaled carbon dioxide from as far as 10 metres away, as well as being able to detect body odour, heat and moisture.

But new research, published in the journal Current Biology, has shown an acidic component in human sweat plays a key role in attracting the insect.

“We wanted to understand the genetic basis of how the mosquitoes detect their human hosts,” Matthew DeGennaro, a mosquito neurobiology researcher at Florida International University, told Al Jazeera.

Gene identified

The scientists identified a gene – known as Ir8a – expressed in the mosquito’s antenna.

This gene appears to allow female mosquitoes, the ones that suck blood, to smell lactic acid, a particular acidic vapour in human sweat.

Using advanced CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology, the researchers were able to disrupt that gene, making the female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes significantly less interested in humans.

“Removing the function of Ir8a removes approximately 50 percent of host-seeking activity,” said DeGennaro.

The genetically-modified mosquitoes were less likely to detect and bite humans, making them much less likely to spread mosquito-borne illnesses.

For a species such as Aedes aegypti, which lives alongside half of the world’s population – and spreads diseases that kill millions of people each year – this genetic modification has huge potential health benefits.

“The transmission of diseases like dengue, yellow fever, Zika, and malaria can be blocked if we stop these mosquitoes from biting us,” said DeGennaro.

Repellent potential

While the release of genetically-modified mosquitoes into the wild to combat the spread of dengue fever has been a controversial practice, this latest research is not only focused on the potential of cross-breeding them with wild populations.

The researchers say their work can also offer a more advanced understanding of how mosquitoes hunt and feed on their human targets and will allow them to develop improved mosquito repellents.

These could include life-saving perfumes or scents that would disrupt mosquitoes’ sense of smell and protect people from being bitten.

“Odours that mask the IR8a pathway could enhance the efficacy of current repellents like DEET or picaridin. In this way, our discovery may help make people disappear as potential hosts for mosquitoes,” said DeGennaro.

In the same way the researchers say they may be able to use the discovery to over-stimulate parts of the insect’s detection system, and use the scent to lure them away from our humans and into traps.

The effect is “like getting on an elevator with someone who has put on way too much cologne,” Larry Zwiebel, a biologist at Vanderbilt University, told US broadcaster NPR.

In February this year, the World Health Organization warned that an emerging resistance to insecticides could lead to a large increase in malaria cases and mortality.

The effects of climate change, which will make more parts of the world hospitable to mosquitoes and the diseases they spread, are also expected to hamper control efforts.

It’s in this context that new and innovative insect control methods like those developed by the Florida researchers are going to become increasingly important.

Islambad, Pakistan – Pakistan’s government has hiked fuel prices by up to 6.45 percent, as the country continues to face widening fiscal and current account deficits amid spiralling inflation.

On Monday, countrywide fuel prices increased to Rs98.89 ($0.70) per litre, with diesel prices at Rs117.43 ($0.83), a government notification said, hitting nine-month highs.

Pakistan subsidises the price of most fuels in the country, but has been cutting those payments in recent months as the newly elected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government struggles to contain ballooning government expenditure amid an overall economic slowdown.

In the past six months, the country has received at least $8 billion in grants and loans from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and key strategic and economic partner China, with whom Pakistan is embarking on the $56bn China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

The influxes have helped stave off a looming foreign reserve crisis, with central bank reserves back up to $8.56bn, or just over two months of imports, according to a central bank statement released on Thursday.

Last week, the International Monetary Fund’s Pakistan mission chief Ernesto Ramirez Rigo held two days of meetings with Pakistani Finance Minister Asad Umar, central bank officials and others ahead of an expected IMF bailout.

The bailout, which both Pakistani PM Imran Khan and IMF chief Christine Lagarde alluded to after a meeting in February, would be Pakistan’s 13th IMF programme since 1980. 

Spiraling inflation

The fuel price hike comes amid spiralling consumer inflation in the South Asian country, with consumer price inflation (CPI) hitting 8.21 percent last month, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the highest level since June 2014.

The inflation numbers have been mainly driven by the increasing prices of fuel and food, according to a PBS statement.

On Friday, Pakistan’s central bank increased the country’s interest rates by 50 basis points to 10.75 percent, saying that the economy was under considerable strain.

“The current account deficit remains high, fiscal consolidation is slower than anticipated and core inflation continues to rise,” said a statement accompanying the announcement.

As a result, the central bank has pared back its expected annual GDP growth rate projection from around 6 percent to 3.5 percent.

“The increase in petrol prices tends to raise inflationary expectations,” said Saad Ali, head of research at Karachi-based Inter Market Securities. “Almost all sectors are affected by it, because in Pakistan most goods are still being transported through trucks, and therefore through diesel.”

Ali said the central bank was currently attempting to control an increasing import bill by raising the cost of borrowing and through currency depreciation. The Pakistani rupee has lost roughly 23 percent of its value against the US dollar in the last year.

“The initial problem that we had was the current account deficit and the foreign exchange depletion,” said Ali.

“The current account deficit was widening because of consumer demand – industries were importing, consumers were demanding more imported consumer items – so to curtail that the government and central bank had to first devalue the currency and increase interest rates.”

Ali said the measures taken thus far had managed to bring the current account deficit to a more manageable number, but that rising inflation continued to pose a significant threat.

“All of this is a reflection of the government and central bank trying to curtail demand,” he said. “There will be less growth, but lower GDP growth will be a sign that they have succeeded.”

Asad Hashim is Al Jazeera’s digital correspondent in Pakistan. He tweets @AsadHashim.

Names marked with an asterisk* have been changed to protect interviewees’ identities.

Nicosia, Cyprus – Zainab* was the only person from the group of migrants on board the ship that was dumped on a rocky, foreign beach.

It was a hot day in August 2016, and the then-17-year-old’s only possessions were the worn clothes on her back.

For three days, she slept on the beach, unaware she had arrived in Cyprus, far from the West African country she had fled.

Eventually, strangers took her to a youth shelter in Larnaca, where she met a group of Somali girls who told her where she was. 

“I never imagined that a country called Cyprus existed,” she said, sitting in a cafe in downtown Nicosia two and a half years later. “Whenever I think back to where I was in 2016 I am grateful for what I have today.”

Zainab had fled her country, which Al Jazeera will not name in order to protect her identity, where she feared persecution. She crossed into Senegal on foot, searching for a better life. 

Alone, lost and afraid, she wandered for days before a driver who almost hit her with his car decided to help her.

“I told him my story and he said he wanted me to be safe,” she said. “He took care of my expenses and dropped me off where the ship was.”

When politicians think they can occasionally use racism to gain votes in parliament, it is very difficult to reverse the situation.

Doros Polykarpou, head of anti-racism NGO KISA

Life on board the smugglers’ ship was tough. Zainab was the only girl there, and the ship’s crew did not specify the destination they were heading to, only to “Europe”.

“There were many people on the ship, I can’t say how much or from where exactly,” she said. “It was not easy because the crew bullied and insulted us on a daily basis. My mind was also preoccupied with how my future would look like.”

It was at Larnaca’s youth shelter where she met John*, now a close friend.

They are the same age and fled from the same country.

“I left because of political reasons,” John said. “I was scared for my life. I had no choice but to leave in order to survive, which I believe is the case for all asylum seekers.”

The two friends have applied for asylum but their case is still pending, almost three years on.

Cyprus, due to its geographical location, is one of the most accessible points of entry for migrants trying to make it to Europe. 

With almost 6,000 applications for a population around one million, the island in 2018 had more claims for asylum per capita than any other EU member state, according to government data.

“According to European law, if you are a minor you get accepted [as a permanent resident] and [are] not subjected to the asylum-seeking process,” Zainab said. “But Cyprus is not following that law.”

There is no system to process asylum seekers, she continued. “Some get recognition in three months, but others have been waiting for three years.”

Doros Polykarpou, head of anti-racism NGO KISA, told Al Jazeera that discrimination is at play.

“[Asylum seekers that don’t] belong to ethnic groups considered by Cypriot society as genuine refugees – such as Syrians or Palestinians” often face difficulty in getting applications processed, he said.

“Historically, we had good relations with Syria and Palestine,” he said. “The people have similar features to the Cypriots. They have very good skills that are needed.”

The government, he continued, sent a message to the public that these groups, especially Syrians, need to be looked after, but did not include African or Asian asylum-seekers.

The rhetoric towards migrants and asylum-seekers, spurred by officials, has been marred with hostility and mistrust. 

The interior minister has said that refugees pose as a security threat to Cypriots while, in his Christmas message, the archbishop preached that the refugees will side with Turkey against Greek Cypriots in an inevitable war.

Polykarpou blames the media and politicians for this attitude, which gained momentum in the wake of the 2007 economic crisis, as it was easier to blame refugees for the country’s dire economic situation.

“When politicians think they can occasionally use racism to gain votes in parliament, it is very difficult to reverse the situation,” he said. “The moment you manage to put certain messages in people’s minds, you need years of work to backtrack on this.”

Zainab says that ordinary Cypriots treat her better than officials and bureaucrats.

“For me, I can say that Cyprus is a home,” she said. “It is the place where I have been nurtured from being unaccompanied to an adult. Also, I am back in school, which would have been impossible in my own country.”

Yet Zainab and John, like other refugees, often feel pushed close to a breaking point by their pending legal status.

“You think about your future every day,” Zainab said. “These thoughts kill you slowly.”

Some refugees are not aware of their rights, such as receiving legal aid for the asylum application process. 

“The entire system is set up to not to have a job, not to have a house, to face daily rejection from society,” says Polykarpou, “and not to have a chance to become a refugee unless you belong to the ethnic groups the government decided to give protection to.”

Al Jazeera contacted Cyprus’ Asylum Service several times for comment but did not receive a response.

You face a lot of frustration and they treat you in a humiliating way.

Zainab, West African refugee in Cyprus

According to Cypriot law, refugees are expected to look for work and/or register with the labour office one month after they submit their asylum application.

Available jobs such as working in agriculture or waste management are low-paid and, in a Catch-22 situation, asylum seekers can only register with the government if they have a fixed address and a rental contract.

When they turned 18, Zainab and John had to leave the migrant youth shelter and find alternative accommodation.

“The shelter says they will help you with that but I didn’t receive that help,” John said. “You have to do your research and contact people who left the shelter before you to see if they know of a spare room available.”

The average rent in Nicosia for a two-bedroom home is 700 euros ($786).

The government’s Social Welfare office gives subsidies of 100 euros a month for individual accommodation and 230 euros for a family, irrespective of its size. However, refugees told Al Jazeera that their payments arrive late or are not made.

“The landlords don’t want to rent houses to asylum-seekers,” said John. “[It is one] of the biggest challenges we face because they know the government will not pay them on time.”

“You face a lot of frustration and they treat you in a humiliating way,” Zainab said. 

She lives with three other young women. 

“I know some girls who up until now haven’t received rent for three months, and the only way they can survive is through prostitution.”

They both agree that the welfare office “is the worst.”

“They will see you beg and cry and they don’t care,” John said. “One time I went to the office to collect the rent money but they told me it was not available. I could have lost my accommodation. How am I supposed to live or survive then?”

The money was later paid out, after the UN’s refugee agency intervened.

“Sometimes, at the welfare office, they look at you up and down, the way you dress and tell you to change your hairstyle,” Zainab said. 

“The worst thing I could ever wish upon someone is for them to be an asylum seeker, especially in Cyprus,” John said.

But the two friends are determined to keep their heads up and are grateful for each other’s presence.

“When we are at school, we have each other’s backs,” Zainab said, referring to the high school scholarship they received at Casa College, in collaboration with UNHCR. 

“I want to study international relations to help refugees, asylum-seekers, migrants – the people that I have met here.

“People should recognise that we are here not because we want to be here but because of circumstances. A lot of asylum-seekers would prefer to work rather than be dependent on welfare but the government see us as being here only to take.”

Zainab and John hope to be recognised as asylum-seekers before the summer. They want to travel the world and are working on a play about seeking asylum to raise awareness.

 “We are dreamers,” John said. “Tomorrow will be a better day.”

London, United Kingdom – At the start of another week, which was meant to be the first after the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, the Brexit outlook is as uncertain as ever. 

What is happening today?

A second round of non-binding “indicative votes” on Monday aims to test support for alternatives to Prime Minister Theresa May‘s divorce deal with the EU.

The votes will take place at 8 GMT, and results will come in at around 10pm.

All eyes are on whether the vote will lead to MPs forcing May’s hand towards a “softer Brexit”, possibly leading to a general election.

Parliament rejected all eight alternative options put to a vote last week. 

Holding a second referendum and a customs union with the EU received the most support.

On the day the country was originally scheduled to leave the EU, March 29, MPs voted down May’s deal with the bloc for the third time. Unlike the previous two votes, this ballot was held on only one of two constituent parts of the deal, the withdrawal agreement, which sets out the terms of departure and includes a 20-month transition period.

A non-legally binding political declaration laying out the future relationship between the UK and EU was not voted on. 

May lost the vote by a margin of 58, down from 230 in January and 149 in March. 

In a surprising move, May had told members of her own Conservative Party, which is bitterly divided over Brexit, that she would stand down if they backed her deal. But even that attempt to win over rebels who would rather see a “hard Brexit” proved insufficient.

The prime minister could bring the agreement before Parliament for a fourth time this week. 

Will Parliament finally find a consensus?

A week ago, MPs voted to temporarily seize control over the parliamentary timetable from the government in an attempt to break the Brexit deadlock and advise on a way forward through a series of “indicative votes.”

Out of the 16 options tabled by MPs, eight were chosen by the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, and none secured a majority. 

The speaker is likely to select three or four options this time, leaving out proposals that were previously rejected by large margins, such as revoking Article 50 and leaving with no deal. 

The idea of holding a confirmatory public vote on a Brexit deal received the most votes last week – something which was seen as a victory by campaigners for a so-called people’s vote. 

Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, renewed his call for the party to support a second referendum option. 

But a number of Labour MPs from leave-voting constituencies previously defied the party whip and voted against the proposal, making it difficult to see where additional votes could come from. An amendment seeking a second referendum could still be introduced at a later stage.

Options for a “softer Brexit”, particularly a customs union and the so-called “Common Market 2.0”, could win the decisive support of MPs who abstained in the last round of votes. 

The latter would see the UK join the European Economic Area (EEA) and European Free Trade Association while being part of a customs union with the EU.

Will today’s votes change the course of Brexit?

The votes are non-binding.

Should MPs be successful in achieving a majority for an alternative course, they may seek to legislate for the government to seek a long extension to the Brexit deadline with the EU.

Is a no-deal Brexit off the table?

No.

No deal remains the default option under Article 50, and the current Brexit deadline is April 12. 

If no alternative option is agreed upon to make the case for a longer extension with the EU, the UK may “accidentally” crash out of the bloc in two weeks’ time.

The Irish border has been the main point of contention in the Conservative Party.

Hard-Brexiteers fear the backstop protocol in the withdrawal agreement – an insurance policy designed to keep an open border in the island of Ireland – could tie to the UK to the EU’s trade rules indefinitely. 

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland argues that it would create a border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

That border will have to be managed in case of a no-deal scenario. Germany and France have both scheduled meeting with the Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, this week.

The EU said in a statement last week it had completed its no-deal preparations.

More than 170 Conservative MPs wrote to May this week to ask her to take the UK out of the EU “with or without a deal”.

Why is everyone talking about a general election?

If Parliament agrees on a way forward that May can’t endorse, the prime minister may decide to trigger a general election. However, a general election will need the approval of at least two-thirds of the British Parliament, and there’s currently no appetite for it in the Conservative benches.

Meanwhile, a number of cabinet ministers are openly preparing for a leadership challenge as the prime minister’s position looks increasingly fragile.

If the indicative votes process does lead to MPs choosing a “soft Brexit” scenario, it could put pressure on hard-Brexiters to vote for May’s deal when she brings it back a fourth time. 

In order to do that, she will need the speaker – who has previously ruled that the same deal couldn’t be brought before the House twice – to allow it.

Reporting by Ylenia Gostoli