Researchers Create Mosquito STD to Combat Malaria, Effective Against Insecticide-Resistant Bugs – IOTW Report

Researchers Create Mosquito STD to Combat Malaria, Effective Against Insecticide-Resistant Bugs

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A team of researchers, including a University of Maryland entomologist, has developed a novel method to combat malaria by exploiting a mosquito’s mating behavior as a fatal vulnerability.

They engineered a naturally occurring fungus, Metarhizium, to act as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) for mosquitoes. This fungus is designed to deliver insect-specific neurotoxins that kill female mosquitoes (the ones responsible for biting humans and spreading malaria) when they mate with infected males

Male mosquitoes are sprayed with spores of the modified Metarhizium fungus. When these males mate, they transfer the deadly fungus to female mosquitoes. This method exploits the mosquitoes’ natural mating behaviors rather than trying to alter or avoid them. more

10 Comments on Researchers Create Mosquito STD to Combat Malaria, Effective Against Insecticide-Resistant Bugs

  1. “There are a million ways this could go wrong. You’re a genius if you can think of 6 of them…”
    – Some line from a movie, unknown

    So, collectively, all IOTW contributors above are geniuses.

    1

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