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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday May 05 2020, @01:53PM   Printer-friendly
from the other-pandemic dept.

Scientists have discovered a microbe that completely protects mosquitoes from being infected with malaria.

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)


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  • (Score: 2) by Hartree on Tuesday May 05 2020, @07:04PM (1 child)

    by Hartree (195) on Tuesday May 05 2020, @07:04PM (#990823)

    Well, if the mosquitos can qualify as a protected species with just Cobra Bubbles advocating for them, maybe we can start a direct mail campaign to save the humans.

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  • (Score: 2) by legont on Tuesday May 05 2020, @10:40PM

    by legont (4179) on Tuesday May 05 2020, @10:40PM (#990891)

    Yeah, but I'd feel much better with radio silence strategy.

    --
    "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.