mating

As I get older, using dating apps puts me in a smaller and smaller mating pool.

Dr Joerg Albert, from the University of Oldenburg in Germany, is an expert on mosquito mating and I asked him what he made of the research.

They closely observed the insects' aerial mating habits - that can last between a few seconds to just under a minute - and then figured out how to disrupt it using genetics.

The researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, who have published their work in the journal PNAS, said the effect of the gene knock-out was "absolute", as mating by deaf males was entirely eliminated.

All work on badger setts must be completed between July and the end of November so the repairs did not interfere with the badgers' mating season, they explained.