The piRNA pathway is a specialized small RNA interference that in mosquitoes is mechanistically distant from analogous biology in the Drosophila model. Current genetic engineering methods, such as targeted genome manipulation, have a high potential to tease out the functional complexity of this intricate molecular pathway. However, progress in utilizing these methods in arthropod vectors has been geared mostly toward the development of new vector control strategies rather than to study cellular functions. Herein we propose that genetic engineering methods will be essential to uncover the full functionality of PIWI/piRNA biology in mosquitoes and that extending the applications of genetic engineering on other aspects of mosquito biology will grant access to a much larger pool of knowledge in disease vectors that is just out of reach. We discuss motivations for and impediments to expanding the utility of genetic engineering to study the underlying biology and disease transmission and describe specific areas where efforts can be placed to achieve the full potential for genetic engineering in basic biology in mosquito vectors. Such efforts will generate a refreshed intellectual source of novel approaches to disease control and strong support for the effective use of approaches currently in development.

piRNA 途径是一种特殊的小 RNA 干扰，在蚊子中在机制上与果蝇模型中的类似生物学有很大不同。当前的基因工程方法，例如靶向基因组操作，具有很大的潜力来阐明这一复杂分子途径的功能复杂性。然而，在节肢动物载体中利用这些方法的进展主要是为了开发新的载体控制策略，而不是研究细胞功能。在此，我们提出基因工程方法对于揭示蚊子中 PIWI/piRNA 生物学的全部功能至关重要，并且将基因工程的应用扩展到蚊子生物学的其他方面将允许获得更大的疾病媒介知识库，简直是遥不可及。我们讨论了扩大基因工程在研究潜在生物学和疾病传播方面的用途的动机和障碍，并描述了可以努力实现基因工程在蚊子媒介基础生物学中的全部潜力的具体领域。这些努力将为疾病控制新方法产生新的知识来源，并为有效利用目前正在开发的方法提供强有力的支持。