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posted by Fnord666 on Friday November 15 2019, @09:22AM   Printer-friendly
from the Noah-had-to-save-two-of-everything dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Mated female mosquitoes are more likely to transmit malaria parasites

Female mosquitoes that have mated are more likely to transmit malaria parasites than virgin females, according to a study published November 7 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Farah Dahalan of Imperial College London, Mara Lawniczak from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, and colleagues. The results of this study imply that efforts to target male mosquitoes might not only suppress mosquito populations, but also act to decrease vector competence among residual females.

[...] In Anopheles mosquitoes, levels of the hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) in females can be influenced by two major factors: blood-feeding and mating. In the new study, Dahalan and colleagues investigate the impact of both mating and 20E on female mosquito susceptibility to P. falciparum.

Farah Dahalan says "If male-derived 20E enhances vector competence of mated females in nature, then male mosquitoes may be contributing to malaria transmission in previously unappreciated ways. It is possible that vector control strategies that target males may have additional benefits toward reducing transmission."

Farah Aida Dahalan, Thomas S. Churcher, Nikolai Windbichler, Mara K. N. Lawniczak. The male mosquito contribution towards malaria transmission: Mating influences the Anopheles female midgut transcriptome and increases female susceptibility to human malaria parasites. PLOS Pathogens, 2019; 15 (11): e1008063 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008063


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  • (Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Friday November 15 2019, @10:27AM (2 children)

    by GreatAuntAnesthesia (3275) on Friday November 15 2019, @10:27AM (#920645) Journal

    Following on from my comment in https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=19/10/25/048245 [soylentnews.org]

    Again, how the hell does anyone even think to investigate this stuff?

    Researcher #1: Hey guys, so I was thinking about malaria right?
    Researcher #2: Uh huh.
    Researcher #3: Yup
    Researcher #1: And you know, like, how it's transmitted by the female mosquitoes, right?
    Researcher #2: Uh huh.
    Researcher #1: What if, like, only female mosquitoes who've had sex can transmit it? Or like, if they are better at it or something?
    Researcher #2: Pffft! Like, virgin mosquitoes are more pure?
    Researcher #3: Shit, buddy you aren't getting all religious on us are you? I thought you were lapsed.
    Researcher #1: Nononono, I mean like, maybe there's a hormone or something, and like, maybe, I dunno, when there's more of it or less of it or, I dunno man, I'm just thinking out loud here, maybe...
    Researcher #2: Wooooooaaaaaah Dude you could be right, that could totally be a thing. It's the hormomes, man.
    Researcher #1: I know, right? Totally a thing.
    Researcher #2: Totally.
    Researcher #1: I am so gonna research that first thing tomorrow.
    Researcher #2: Yeah, you should, you should research the shit outta that.
    Researcher #3: OK, you guys have had enough. Pass the joint back to me...

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 15 2019, @10:28AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 15 2019, @10:28AM (#920646)

      The slut mosquitoes have collected the strongest parasites available.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 15 2019, @10:39AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 15 2019, @10:39AM (#920648)

      They're trying to gather investors for their mosquito chastity belt manufacturing company.

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