Scientists have discovered a microbe that completely protects mosquitoes from being infected with malaria. The team in Kenya and the UK say the finding has "enormous potential" to control the disease.
Malaria is spread by the bite of infected mosquitoes, so protecting them could in turn protect people.
The researchers are now investigating whether they can release infected mosquitoes into the wild, or use spores to suppress the disease.
[...] "It's a new discovery. We are very excited by its potential for malaria control. It has enormous potential," Prof Steven Sinkins, from the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, told the BBC.
This concept of disease control using microbes is not unprecedented. A type of bacteria called Wolbachia has been shown to make it harder for mosquitoes to spread dengue fever in real-world trials.
The scientists need to understand how the microbe spreads, so they plan to perform more tests in Kenya.
However, these approaches are relatively uncontroversial as the species is already found in wild mosquitoes and is not introducing something new.
It also would not kill the mosquitoes, so would not have an impact on ecosystems that are dependent on them as food. This is part of other strategies like a killer fungus that can almost completely collapse mosquito populations in weeks.
Journal Reference
Herren, J.K., Mbaisi, L., Mararo, E. et al. A microsporidian impairs Plasmodium falciparum transmission in Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes, Nat Commun 11, 2187 (2020) (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16121-y)
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 05 2020, @04:32PM (2 children)
Quick! Write a Google Docs paper on how this has been 100% effective against COVID-19. Did anybody die from it during this research? No? There you go! Claim some affiliations with big time medical schools and thank some of those "Noble Prize" scientists who have never heard of you. That always adds a nice touch.
Now all you have to do is run the Fox News gauntlet and idiotcracy radio tour and wait for that sweet sweet MAGA money to flow in. It helps if you have some cryptocurrency angle to take their money too.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 05 2020, @04:43PM
Jared is that you? I didn't know you could write so well. It'd be great to hear your voice. I'm so lonely in lockdown. PS. Why did you people kill Jesus?
(Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday May 05 2020, @05:32PM
The 100% cure involves plasma with antibodies of covid survivors. I know it is effective because they sent the anti sophistication police immediately to one of the hospital who employs the therapy. They never send the NAS when the vaccine contains shit or is ineffective, so it's an inverse correlation.
Account abandoned.