Keshava Mysore, PhD

Bio

Mosquitoes are one of the major insect species that have had a devastating effect on most human populations across the globe since civilization was established. But, to date, no effective means have been established to control or treat the diseases that they spread. An understanding of the genetic and neuronal mechanisms involved in their development would provide us with novel means for their control. However, presently there is a lack of knowledge in this field. I was trained at the National Center for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, India in the lab of Prof. Veronica Rodrigues, a leader in the field of Drosophila Olfactory Genetics and Neurobiology. Here I worked independently on understanding the organization and development of the sensory systems in two species of social insects through a fellowship awarded from the Dept. of Biotechnology, Govt. of India. Further, I worked on understanding the basic principles involved in the development of the mosquito brain using a set of crossreacting antibody reagents from flies as a part of the Indo-Swiss Joint Research Project in the lab of Prof. Heinrich Reichert, University of Basel, Switzerland. After spending two years in Prof. Reichert's lab, I joined Prof. Molly Duman-Scheel’s group as a post-doctoral appointee initially and later as Asst. Research Professor to further my understanding of developmental and neural mechanisms in Culicine and Anopheline mosquitoes using the technique of RNA interference (RNAi). Over the past five years we have been developing RNAi technology using baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) as a manufacturing host and delivery vehicle for hpRNAs (hairpin RNA) to effectively control wild mosquito populations by collaborating with field experts in various parts of the world. Our recent work includes expanding that technique to various other pests of agricultual and economic importantce.