The paper
S.M. Prud’homme et al., “Multiscale approach to deciphering the molecular mechanisms involved in the direct and intergenerational effect of ibuprofen on mosquito Aedes aegypti,” Environ Sci Technol, 52:7937–50, 2018.
Low levels of the drug ibuprofen are frequently found in rivers and lakes worldwide. Because of its ubiquity, a group of French researchers investigated the long-term effects of an environmentally realistic ibuprofen exposure on mosquitoes and their unexposed progeny.
The scientists observed almost no change in mosquitoes that were exposed to the anti-inflammatory drug as larvae, relative to controls, says coauthor Sophie Prud’homme, an ecotoxicologist at the Université Grenoble-Alpes. But the exposed mosquitoes’ progeny, which did not themselves get the ibuprofen dose, developed more quickly and were more tolerant of starvation than controls.
The researchers used transcriptomics and metabolomics to take snapshots of molecular processes playing out in mosquitoes. They observed a decrease in certain amino acids, carbohydrates, and ...
