STREET WISE
Backstage at the mosquito factory
With temperatures normally below 30 degrees Celsius, it is difficult to envision a mosquito flying in the cool air of Switzerland. There are mosquitoes in this mountainous European country, but they are not flying around outside. Rather, thousands of them are airborne in a small room where they are fed, lay eggs, and die.
It's strange to see a horde of bloodthirsty mosquitoes buzzing around in small cages covered with white nets. Each day, they are fed pig's blood since without blood they would not lay eggs. To keep them alive, the temperature in the room is kept above 30 degrees and it must be a torment for the technician who have to stay in the room to look after these little blood-sucking monsters.Selling mosquito eggs for research is just one of the tasks undertaken by the Swiss Tropical Institute, a public organisation that contributes to the improvement of world health through excellent research, teaching and training services. The office in Basel is compact but it houses many fascinating activities. Aside from the mosquito unit, trained scientists and PhD students are working on many projects in the DNA lab, the travel clinic, and the lab devoted to the development of a new malaria medicine expected to come to market in 2009. Though the general atmosphere is academic, there is much laughter. Professor Christoph Hatz is head of the institute's medical department, which oversees the travel clinic. Annually, 1,000 Swiss nationals and others from neighbouring countries are vaccinated at the clinic before they head off for holidays in tropical countries. From his experience, it is the most difficult to convince Germans to take vaccination shots. "If there are pills, they'll swallow them without complaint," he said. "But when it comes to a shot, it is painful to convince them as they are afraid of side-effects." That is entirely opposite to the Italians and French. "They don't ask questions, but simply tell us, 'Well, just do it!'" A visit to the Swiss Tropical Institute is impressive indeed. It shows how Switzerland has managed to stay in the forefront in many scientific fields, despite limited resources and a population of only seven million. The distinction here is that so many talented people are ready to work behind the scenes in small labs where innovations are being cultured to benefit the world. Paradoxically, many academics in Thailand keep complaining about lagging education standards in the Kingdom without concocting any concrete development plans. achara_d@nationgroup.com.
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