Entomotoxicology And Its Effects On The Maggot Body

Q1. Entomotoxicology is the use of insects on decomposing corpses to determine and quantify the drugs which had been consumed by the individual prior to their demise. According to Campobasso (2004), as the maggots feed on the corpse, they consume the drugs available in the body, which can affect their growth or complicate their life cycle. He describes how maggots from different corpses which had been proved to have different amounts of drugs such as morphine varied in their development cycle and general characteristics (Campobasso, 2004). This claim was further supported by De Carvalho (2012) in which the study had shown that the presence of morphine in the maggot body would cause the acceleration of its development. However, these concentrations

First, they can be infected with disease agents such as bacteria or viruses which will be transmitted to the human targets (Pate and Cameron, 2003). Secondly, the arthropods can be used to attack crops and livestock so as to cause crop destruction which leads to severe economic loss and starvation etc. For example, insects such as Eastern Lubber grasshoppers could either directly feed on the cultivated crops or cause an infection to the crops (vectors). Thirdly, the stinging insects such as bees and wasps etc. could be used to directly torment the targeted population. They could attack the local people to cause pain and distress, which is equally threatening just as disease conditions, hence it should be prevented in order to preserve family bonds (Pate and Cameron,

For example, CRISPR technology can be used to create genetically modified “Killer Mosquitos”, which cause plagues with a capability of wiping out staple crops and cause food deprivation (Kaufmann, Meltzer and Schmid, 1997). It is possible to design other agents which could cause even more damages to the targeted population. For example, during the cold war in the 1950s, the United States Army designed an entomological warfare laboratory that could produce 100 million of mosquitos infected with Yellow Fever virus (Mattingly, Crosskey and Smith, 1973). The army tested the impact of this ‘entomological weapon’ by launching the uninfected mosquitos over its cities such as New York. No Yellow Fever was noted, but up to 92% of the residents in the targeted cities were under attacked by the mosquitos (Peterson, 1990). This, therefore, proved to be biologically risky and capable of causing a lot of distress to the victims. It was tested by the best and was observed to be a great risk if it falls into the wrong