Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek - Mackinaw Area Public Library
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by Sandy Planisek
Mackinaw News
Events in Mackinaw City Every Week
June 11 - 12, Friday & Saturday • Heritage Village is open with docents
• Motorcycle Rally and open buildings on Sundays 10-2 thru
Labor Day. MCAAC will have live
June 12 -13, Saturday & Sunday music at the pavilion 1-4 pm on the
• Gardens and Good Things to Eat Weekend, Colonial same Sundays.
Michilimackinac
• Free movies at the Bridge at
June 14 Michilimackinac State Park at dusk
• Historical Society speaker - A Landscape Design starting June 12.
Proposal for the Cheboiganing Burt Lake Band of
Ottawa & Chippewa Indians, zoom, 7pm Fireworks every Friday at dusk from May
28 through September.
June 22, Tuesday
• Blood drive, St. Anthony’s, noon to 5 pm
June 24 - 27
• St. Ignace Car Cruise Weekend
June 26, Saturday
• Spring Trash Clean up, 8 am - noon, by school
June 26 - 27, Saturday & Sunday
• Arts and Craft Show, Conkling Heritage Parks,10 am
Greg Teysen
New to town
the newly christened
William Richard and the
helicopter
June 6, 2021 page 1
Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek
Motorcycle Rally Weekend Events
June 11–12
Get ready for the 1st Annual Mackinaw City Motorcycle Rally! Gather with other Motorcycle enthusiasts to
celebrate the freedom of the ride! This two day event is a motorcycle enthusiasts dream. Rally is open to the
public.
FRIDAY JUNE 11TH:
• Vendors 10 am to 7 pm in Conkling Heritage Park.
• Live Entertainment at the Mackinaw Crossings starting at 6 pm
• Fireworks at Dusk over Lake Huron
SATURDAY JUNE 12TH:
• Vendors 10 am to 7 pm in Conkling Heritage Park.
• Blessing of the Bikes 9:45 am
• Parade Across the Mighty Mackinac Bridge 10 am
• Bike Show for ALL Motorcycles Noon to 5 pm at the Straits State Harbor 409 S. Huron Ave. Cash Prizes &
Awards for: Best in Show, Rat Bike, Best Paint, Peoples Choice, Best Custom, Best Vintage (1996 & Older).
• Biker Games 2 pm
• Beer Tent & Live Entertainment 5 pm to 10 pm in Conkling Heritage Park
June 6, 2021 page 2
Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek
Pop-Up COVID-19
Vaccine Clinics!
Pfizer vaccination available for 12+ with parent/legal
guardian present. Johnson & J ohnson available for 18+.
Walk-ins welcome.
Tuesday 12:00 to 2:00 p.m.
June Williams’ Marathon & Grocery
8 5727 US-31, Levering
To schedule:
https://tinyurl.com/3yjt8far
3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Pellston General Store
45 US-31, Pellston
Walk-ins only.
For additional clinic locations and times
visit www.nwhealth.org.
Need assistance? Dial 2-1-1.
June 6, 2021 page 3
Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek
June 6, 2021 page 4
Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek
Maple seeds developing
Time your electricity usage to control your bill
A new summer pricing program for electricity during peak daytime hours has started for customers of
Consumers Energy. You received a notification in the mail. From now through September your
electric rate will go up between 2 -7 pm on weekdays, the time of heavy air conditioning use. Bridge
Michigan adds - “The rate change sounds scary – a 50-percent gap between off-peak rates (about 10
cents per kilowatt hour) and peak rates between 2-7 pm (about 15 cents). But the change in your bill
likely will be a lot smaller than that.” Those hours represent the period of the year with the highest
demand on Michigan’s power grid and requires additional sources of power generation to be online
and running compared to all other hours of the year. If you don’t shift you usage, on average, you will
see a $2 a month increase in your electric bill. During the rest of the year the bill will return to a flat
rate.
Do programs like this actually lower power use? Yes. Data from other locations found that, on
average, residential customers reduce their on-peak usage by 6.5 percent for every 10 percent
increase in the peak-to-off-peak price ratio.
June 6, 2021 page 5
Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek Village Hall News There was a big crowd at this week’s village council meeting, about 20 members of the public. They were all there in response to last week’s YouTube video showing the night manager of the Crown Choice Inn & Suites berating a customer at 11 pm and ordering them out of the hotel, two women and five children. Of the ten persons who spoke during public comments, seven were Lieghio employees who all gave testament to the caring nature of the Lieghio family. Sabrina Lieghio, daughter of Joe, apologized for the family, saying “I am sorry if it hurt anyone.” One speaker was a competitor who also praised the family for offering support when needed. Two citizens spoke against the Lieghios. One reported being threatened by a Lieghio because she spoke on TV about a division in town. The second about the treatment of the Crown Choice Inn & Suites guests and a concern over whether the police department helped the families as they left town. The common theme was the need for the town to work together, not fight each other. Why all these folks spoke to village council was unclear. Only the person who reported feeling threatened offered a path forward - creating a Quality Business Board. No one asked village council to do anything. Village Manager Wyman reported that 32 people were vaccinated by the visiting health department this week Wendy Armstrong presented a report on the resilience of the village relative to the high and low Great Lake levels. I will try to pass along the highlights next week. Two recurring special events were approved: • Walk of Iron Induction Ceremony - August 13, Ironworkers statue, 2:30 pm • Water is Life - September 4, Conkling Park, 10 am - 8 pm The Park Board met and settled on a vision statement for the crosstown trail. “Mackinaw City’s Crosstown Trail will connect users of all ages and abilities with the resources and community services between Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park on Lake Huron and the Headlands International Dark Sky Park on Lake Michigan. It will support community exploration as an alternative transportation multi-use trail and it will connect natural areas and serve as a source of inspiration for a variety of pursuits.” Sabrina Lieghio apologizes March 7, 2021 page 6
Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek
Mackinaw City Sent 11 to Fight Fire on Mackinac Island at the 1899
Brigadoon Cottage (near Marquette Park)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On May 30th at 6:01pm the Mackinac Island Fire Department was dispatched for a structure fire on Main
Street. Units went en route within minutes and reported a working fire in a 3 story, 120-year-old wood frame
structure. Chief St. Onge immediately struck a 2nd Alarm asking for the St. Ignace Fire Department to respond
to the Island. Before SIFD could head to the Island, they were dispatched for a fire of their own. Mackinaw City
was then dispatched and they were able to send 11 firefighters.
The first fire companies on scene, Ladder 2 and Engine 1, stretched a hose to the third floor and began fighting
the fire from within. The tremendous fire load consisting of finished wooden interior walls made the 3rd floor
untenable and firefighters had to retreat several times down
the stairs. After the roof burned through, fearing the now un-
tethered chimney could collapse, interior crews were removed
and a master stream from Ladder 2 was engaged.
About 45 minutes after the initial alarm the first mutual aid
firefighters from the mainland began to arrive and give much
needed relief to the MIFD firefighters.
After exterior operations began to knock down the fire, crews
again made their way to the third floor to finish off the fire
while other firefighters were simultaneously evacuating
paintings, pictures and priceless family heirlooms from the
first and second floors.
The fire was pronounced under control at about 7:30pm and
deemed out by 9pm. Firefighters spent as least 2 more hours
picking up hose, filling air bottles and placing equipment
back on the rig. Mainland firefighters were transported back
to their home ports via a special Shepler Ferry at 10pm.
Additional help and resources were utilized from Mackinac
Island EMS, Mackinac Island Police Department, Michigan
State Police, Bacco Construction, Cloverland Co-Op, The
Mackinac Island Department of Public Works, Belonga
Excavating and the Mackinac Island Service Company.
After interviewing the occupants/owners of the structure and
opening up additional walls, it was concluded that the fire
started in the walls between the 2nd and 3rd Floor from a
failure in the chimney from a family fire that had been lit in
the first-floor fireplace at about 4pm.
There were no injuries to occupants or firefighters and the
damages/loss is well north of a million dollars at this time.
Ladder 1, Ladder 2, Engine 1, Squad 1 and Squad 2
responded from the Island with 22 firefighters, St. Ignace Fire
sent 6 Firefighters and Mackinaw City sent 11 firefighters.
-Jason St. Onge
Chief of Department, MIFD
June 6, 2021 page 7
Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek
State News
Anti-Bias Training Required For Health Professions
Gongwer—Some 400,000 health professionals licensed through the Department of Licensing and Regulatory
Affairs will need to undergo training on implicit bias to obtain or renew their license starting in June 2022.
Online court is big improvement and here to stay
Gongwer—Online court proceedings via platforms such as Zoom and YouTube will not be going away any time
soon, said State Court Administrator Tom Boyd in a memo sent to judges and court administrators statewide last
week. Courts had – throughout the pandemic – taken full advantage of the platforms, with its top leaders from
the Michigan Supreme Court downward touting the Judiciary's ability to boost access for parties to lawsuits,
their attorneys and the judges and vital staff. "Remote proceedings are here to stay. Nearly 1,000 judges,
magistrates, and referees have Zoom licenses and have presided over more than 3 million hours of online
proceedings," Mr. Boyd wrote. "The result? Parties and their attorneys love it. The biggest boost to access to
justice in our lifetimes. Exponential improvement in efficiency."
Upper Peninsula should control all wolf decisions
Gongwer—The state’s Wolf Management Advisory Council, which decides on wolf policy, currently consists of
six members: the DNR director’s designee; one member from an organization that promotes conservation; one
representing organizations that promote hunting or fishing; a tribal government representative; an agricultural
group representative; and a member representing an animal advocacy organization. Sen. Ed McBroom (R-
Vulcan) introduced a bill that would require all members be from the Upper Peninsula. Currently only one
member is from the UP. If the DNR, however, through winter track surveys found that wolves were present in
the Lower Peninsula, only the majority of the council's members would have to be Upper Peninsula residents.
Vaccination passport ban passes in House
AP — Republicans alongside a handful of Democrats in the Michigan House passed a bill Wednesday that
would ban government-required COVID-19 vaccine passports, even though they do not exist and no legislative
effort is being made to utilize them.
Bill To Inform Lawmakers Of Governor Leaving State Passes Senate
Gongwer—A divided Senate passed along party lines a bill that would require the governor to alert the majority
and minority leaders in both legislative chambers of out-of-state travel in writing, outlining the expected period
of time the governor would be out of state, and naming who in the line of succession would be taking the
governor's powers.
Aggregate Mining Bills Eke Out Narrow Win To Clear Senate
Gongwer— Bills that would move the process for approving aggregate mining permitting from local control to
state control were reported from committee. Business groups and union leaders have contended that it provides
fairness for the industry to obtain valuable resources and provides needed materials to upgrade the state's road
infrastructure. Local government groups have opposed the bill, saying it upends local control.
Tax rebate for PPP
AP — Michigan businesses with COVID-19 safety protocols could seek a refund for sales taxes paid on
personal protective equipment, disinfectants and plexiglass barriers under bills nearing the desk of Gov.
Whitmer.
June 6, 2021 page 8
Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek
Microbrewery tasting allowed
Governor Whitmer signed a bill which will enable small distillers, wine makers, and microbreweries to have an
on-premise and off-premise tasting room permit.
EGLE opens dashboard of their use of funding
EGLE recently unveiled a new Grants and Loans Dashboard that shows exactly where EGLE’s funding goes.
More than half is returned to communities as grants and loans. The dashboard is at https://
egle.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/9c8c1b5ca98b40eea142dcfe07751a77 (which I got to load using
Chrome web browser).
Whitmer Proposes Using Grants For Temporary Wage Hike
Employers would be eligible to receive grants to bring workers now making less than $15 per hour to that level
for three months if they agree to keep the higher wage for another three months, Governor Whitmer proposed
Thursday. It is generally opposed by Republicans and the business community. Michigan’s minimum wage
currently stands at $9.65.
Pride Month Resolutions Pass Legislature For First Time
Gongwer—The House and Senate – both for the first time Thursday – adopted nonbinding resolutions
acknowledging June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Pride Month, a departure from previous
years in which such proposals were not brought to the floor for consideration.
Gov. Whitmer vetoed a bill that would have exempted high school commencement ceremonies from
emergency health orders.
Michigan responds on Line 5: ‘This case is a state-law action through and through’
The dispute over the cross-border Line 5 pipeline is entirely for Michigan to deal with, the state’s attorney
general argues in a legal brief released Wednesday that flatly rejects Canada’s depiction of a foreign-policy
matter that Ottawa and the White House must resolve.
June 6, 2021 page 9
Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek
Fourth grade visits Heritage Village and helps plant the big garden
Photos by Angie Morthland
June 6, 2021 page 10Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek
The Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority Met (tunnel committee)
The “tunnel” oversight committee met to hear updates and learn that two other utilities have asked to use the
tunnel. Also, a consulting agreement with the Bay Mills tribe is being drafted to include them in all future
discussions.
Work on the tunnel is progressing. It is expected that the Army Corp of Engineers, which is reviewing the plants,
animals, and historical materials that might be impacted by the tunnel construction, will issue a decision on the
required permit yet this year. The Public Service Commission has laid out a timeline for their permit review that
expects final briefings next March and a decision after that. In the meantime, an RFP for construction is being
reviewed by the tunnel authority and as soon as it is approved construction of the tunnel will be put out for bid.
Two utilities have asked to use the tunnel. One of the firms is unidentified but one of the firms is Peninsula Fiber
Network out of Marquette. PFN has fiber cables stretched across the state which they rent to
telecommunications companies like AT&T and Verison. They also operate the next generation 911 system,
relaying 5 million calls a year. MDOT is busy drafting a tenant manual for such firms, giving them specifications
on how to anchor their equipment and what the thermal rules will be. The Authority talked about holding an
information meeting before their next scheduled October meeting.
Graduate update
Caroline Somers had a full ride scholarship offer to the University of Alabama, but she ended up deciding to
attend Columbia University instead, majoring solely in political science. I'm pretty sure this is the first time that
a student from Mackinaw City has been accepted into an Ivy League school. Columbia was the second most
difficult university to gain acceptance to this year, only behind Harvard. Columbia had over 60,000 applicants
for next fall, and only accepted a little over 2200. Caroline had applied to Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Cornell.
She was rejected by Harvard and Yale, waitlisted at Columbia, and offered a transfer option to Cornell next fall
as a sophomore.
May was dry but to be expected. Let’s hope June reaches
expectations with over 2 inches.
June 6, 2021 page 11Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek
Kindness and Gratitude 4th Grade Style
On May 19th Mrs. Powers' 4th grade
class threw her a surprise
Appreciation Party. The class came
up with the idea all on their own.
They approached the Kindness Club
for assistance. This is the first time
students have ever come to the
Kindness Club with an idea to throw
an appreciation day for their teacher.
They were so sweet and so excited.
They got her presents, made cards
and decorated the room just the way
they wanted it. They wanted to let
her know how much she means to
them and what a great teacher she
is. Mrs. Powers was surprised and
delighted by her caring students!
Photos by Will Barrett
Information by Jennifer Lee
June 6, 2021 page 12Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek
Tetanus – Are your shots up to date?
Why do they wipe your arm with antiseptic before giving you a shot?
Tetanus is everywhere!
Tetanus is a dangerous nerve ailment caused by the toxin of a common
bacterium, Clostridium tetani. Yes, its spores lurk on rusty nails, but they also
lurk everywhere else, most commonly in cultivated soil, hence the rusty nail
in the foot warning. But they live in environments as diverse as animal
excrement, house dust, and the human colon. C. tetani spores are extremely
hardy, are resistant to heat, cold, various antiseptics, desiccation, and UV
radiation. They can remain infectious for more than 40 years.
All the spore needs to come alive, reproduce and emit its toxin is an entry deep under the skin where oxygen can
not reach. This entry can be by way of animal or insect bites, surgical
wounds, needle injection sites, burns, splinters, ulcers, acupuncture, ear
piercing, and even from toothpicks -- and by the proverbial rusty nail.
In up to 30% of cases no entry point is apparent.
Once their toxin enters the human blood stream, it is taken up from
the blood by the outermost nerves and moves inward toward the
spine. After three to 21 days, it begins to short-circuit nerve signals
and block the relaxation of muscles. (So after you get a wound there
is still time to get an effective tetanus shot.) This results in sustained
muscle contractions, notably the lockjaw for which tetanus is
nicknamed. Spasms of the jaw or facial muscles spread to the hands, A man suffering from tetanus painted by Charles Bell in 18
arms, legs, and back, ultimately blocking the ability to breathe. Once
tetanus has spread, the mortality rate is approximately 30%, even in modern medical facilities.
It ranks with botulism, a genetic relative called Clostridium botulinum, as among the most potent known
microbial poisons. Ironically, botulism has the opposite effect on muscles, instead of forcing muscle contraction,
botulism forces muscle relaxation, an equally deadly prospect ending in breathing failure.
Tetanus is spread when bacteria releases spores into the environment and the next host picks them up through a
wound. Therefore, it is not directly contagious between humans. Nor is it limited to humans. Horses, and
livestock are susceptible, sensitive, and spreaders. Contrarily, cats are quite resistant and dogs only suffer from
localized tetanus, only the limb nearest the original wound becoming convulsed.
Vaccination
There are several combination shots available that include tetanus. They are DTaP, Tdap, or Td, named with the
letters of their target illness.
D is for diphtheria
T is for tetanus
P is for whooping cough
Upper-case letters mean the vaccine is full-strength.
Lower-case means these vaccines use smaller doses.
The “a” stands for “acellular,” meaning that the whooping cough component contains only parts of the
bacteria instead of the whole bacteria.
June 6, 2021 page 13Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek
Since vaccines and their effectiveness have been in the
news, just how effective are the tetanus vaccine and other
common vaccines?
Diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough (DTaP): A
complete vaccine series is considered 97 percent effective
against diphtheria, 100 percent effective against tetanus
and 73 percent to 98 percent effective against pertussis, or
whooping cough, within the year after the final dose.
One dose of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) is 93
percent effective at protecting against measles, 78 percent
against mumps and 97 percent against rubella. Two doses
increase effectiveness at preventing disease, according to
the CDC.
Research shows that the annual influenza vaccine’s
effectiveness has varied widely in terms of preventing
illness severe enough to require a doctor’s attention.
Typically, it has been 40-60 percent effective because of For more information go to the CDC site
the uncertainty of the strains of virus, but in the winter season of https://www.cdc.gov/tetanus/index.html
2014-15, it fell to just 19 percent.
Get A Tetanus Shot At Least Every Ten Years
William Richard christened
The official christening of the William Richard happened this past weekend. This 4-engined, jet driven, high
speed ferry was completed at Moran Iron Works last year for the Shepler's and now takes its place in the fleet.
The new design is fast and efficient, transporting 210
passengers at a fraction of the fuel consumption of
older vessels.
Greg Teysen
Christening the William Richard ferry boat with the traditional
bottle by William Richard himself. June 6, 2021 page 14
Chris and Bill SheplerMackinaw News by Sandy Planisek
19th Century Women Writers and Mackinac Island
Mackinac State Historic Parks blog by Maria Bur with permission of Bur and MSHP
For decades, Mackinac Island and the Straits area has been a rich source of inspiration for
writers. Some literary ties remain well remembered, like Herman Mellville calling
Mackinac by name in Moby-Dick, while others fade and are largely forgotten in time.
Two such 19th century women writers, long overlooked compared to their male
contemporaries, nevertheless also took inspiration from Mackinac’s one-of-a-kind scenery
and made notable, even remarkable contributions to literature.
It is only in recent years that the private writings of Jane Johnston Schoolcraft have been
uncovered and recognized for the accomplishment they are. History better remembers
Jane Johnston Schoolcraft.
her husband Henry Schoolcraft, a geographer, ethnologist, and United States Indian Courtesy U-M Library
agent for Michigan beginning in 1822. He made a career studying American Indian Digital Collections. Bentley
tribes. But it’s the poetry and translations of his wife Jane, a Métis, or mixed Ojibwe and Image Bank, Bentley
Scotch-Irish woman, that have just as much to say about Ojibwe life, culture, and Historical Library. Accessed:
March 05, 2021.
womanhood in the 19th century.
As a woman straddling two different cultures, Schoolcraft took
inspiration from places like Mackinac Island, where she lived
for most of the 1830s, and from her Ojibwe heritage to craft
collections of poetry in English and Ojibwe, wrote, in English,
at least eight traditional Ojibwe stories, and transcribed and
translated a variety of other Ojibwe tales.
Schoolcraft is among the first American Indian writers, the first
known Indian woman writer, by some measures the first Indian
woman poet, as well as the first to write poems in a Native
American language. Recent scholarship has even determined
that Schoolcraft’s Ojibwe tales served as inspiration for Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow’s The Song of Hiawatha.
Another 19th century women writer familiar with Mackinac Island, and whose literary talents remain partially
eclipsed by her contemporaries, is Constance Fenimore Woolson. This American Realist is perhaps most
remembered for her friendship with Henry James and for her well-known great uncle, James Fenimore Cooper,
author of The Last of the Mohicans, but recent scholars argue she should be celebrated in her own right.
Woolson spent portions of her childhood and young adulthood in the midwest and on Mackinac Island, which is
where several of her short stories and novels are set.
Of particular note is Anne, an 1880 novel published first as a serialization in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine,
partially set on the island. In Anne the protagonist begins her journey in her village on Mackinac Island headed
for the northeastern United States, only to return home at the end to familiar ground. Forever known for
her picturesque and vibrant descriptions of the natural world, Woolson’s Anne pays fitting homage to
Mackinac Island.
June 6, 2021 page 15Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek
Woolson’s work remains a product of her time and echoes other 19th
century literature, but also departs from the norm in important ways.
Woolson is a woman writing often about other women as explorers
setting out into the new and unknown, deepening their own mental and
spiritual lives as they go. Though her heroine in Anne tends to be
extremely self-sacrificing, a common literary depiction of the time,
Woolson also imbues her with a sense of independence and self-
determination, that coupled with Woolson’s own desire to write about
uncomfortable, difficult subjects, sets her apart from other 19th
century writers.
Although she’s little more than a footnote in 19th century literature, Plaque on Mackinac Island
Woolson’s legacy remains alive on Mackinac Island in the form of a
bronze plaque located within Mackinac Island State Park next to Fort Mackinac. Overlooking a bluff, part of the
plaque dedicated in 1916 honors Woolson for “her love of this island and its beauty in the words of her heroine,
Anne.”
Is Mackinaw housing too expensive?
In an effort to see if Mackinaw’s housing is too expensive I went to the Basic Military Housing allowance for E-
5 service members and their families. This is based on rental rates. It turns out that Mackinaw City is one of the
cheapest places to live in Michigan. Of course, this does not guarantee that housing will be available. Here is
our data compared to some other nearby and notable places. Source: https://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/
bah.cfm
June 6, 2021 page 16Mackinaw History In searching for information on Ivan Belfrey for last week’s article, someone offered me a copy of the first entries into Mackinaw’s cemetery. Here is the first page and it starts with the death of Madeline Davenport, wife of James Davenport, keeper of McGulpin Point Lighthouse. She died in childbirth, at age 42, and her child Gracie, lower on the page, died a few days later. There are several other persistent Mackinaw names on these pages: Cunningham, Robinson, Paquet, Welsh, Dietz, Wheeler, and Duffina. But the most notable and interesting entry is George W. Stimpson who died of pneumonia. He was buried in Block 67, a block that existed before Central Ave. was extended west over a portion of the cemetery. The note to the right shows that he was removed before the road went through and re-buried further north. Also interesting are the diseases that took residents: pneumonia, diphtheria, tuberculosis, and Brights disease, a disease of the kidneys.
New Signs on Historic Pathway The village has updated eight signs along the downtown Historic Pathway. Take a few minutes and enjoy them. Many are in Wawatam Park.
Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek
Mosquitoes Stab Animals with a Syringe-like Proboscis
Calling the red welt a mosquito leaves behind on your arm a “bite” is really a misnomer.
A more realistic term might be “injection”: the structure the insect uses to puncture our
skin bears an uncanny resemblance to a syringe tip, as the two close-up photographs
below show.
Medical injection technology has come a long way. After all, some of the first
subcutaneous drug delivery options involved shoving a pellet of medication under the
skin with a darning needle. But when these clunky needles were considered cutting-
edge science, mosquitoes had already been plunging their blood-sucking mechanism
into animals for millions of years. All the mosquitoes have this tool, called a proboscis,
but only female mosquitoes suck blood because they need the fluid’s protein for egg
production. The proboscis is a Swiss Army knife appendage of six separate instruments
that facilitate blood collection. Of these instruments, five function to saw into our skin,
push open the hole and drop saliva that keeps our fluids drinkable. Pictured here is the
sixth piece, called the labrum, which funnels out blood. The system is so efficient and
painless, engineers still look to mosquitos to inspire future medical devices, such as
needles used to biopsy internal tumors.
Composite colored scanning electron micrograph of a needle with red blood cells on its tip.
Credit: Steve Gschmeissner Science Source
Tip of the labrum of a female mosquito (a member of the family Culicidae). This sharp tool
is used to suck blood from animals. Though they are invisible in the photograph, the
mosquito has sensing hairs at the end of its personal syringe that detect where best to
plunge.(Unlike needles that require training and some luck.) Credit: Ted Kinsman Science
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4625056/
Mosquito
Scientific American—A few weeks ago, mosquito eggs placed in the Florida Keys are expected to hatch tens of
thousands of genetically modified mosquitoes, a result of the first U.S. release of such insects in the wild. This is
part of a federally approved experiment to study the use of genetic engineering—rather than insecticides—to
control disease-carrying mosquito populations. Male mosquitoes have been modified to carry a gene that makes
their female progeny dependent on the antibiotic tetracycline—and thus fated to die in the wild. As the mating
cycle repeats over generations, female numbers are depleted, and the population is suppressed.The move targets
an invasive species, called Aedes aegypti, that carries Zika, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever and other
potentially deadly diseases, some of which are on the rise in Florida.
June 6, 2021 page 19Mackinaw News by Sandy Planisek
MALARIA -SOMEPLACE ELSE?
Malaria is on the rise and is no longer limited to southern tropical locales. With warming weather even
Michigan is recording numerous cases. With mosquito season near, remember that malaria is potentially
only one bite away.
Source: Jama Online
June 6, 2021 page 20You can also read
