Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute demonstrated for the first time that the Anopheles mosquito's innate immune system could be genetically engineered to block the transmission of the malaria-causing parasite to humans. In addition, they showed that the genetic modification had little impact on the mosquito's fitness under laboratory conditions. The researchers' findings were published December 22 in the online journal PLoS Pathogens.
At left is a normal mosquito from the wild.
The three mosquitoes to the right, with glowing eyes, are from three
strains genetically engineered to better kill the malaria parasites in
their guts. The mosquito at the far right, with yellow eyes, is a hybrid
of the two other modified strains and was the most effective of the
three at killing the parasite.
Credit: George Dimopoulos/JHU
"The immune system of the Anopheles mosquito is capable of killing a
large proportion -- but not all -- of the disease-causing parasites that
are ingested when the mosquito feeds on an infected human," said George
Dimopoulos, PhD, senior author of the study and associate professor in
the W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and
Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
"We've genetically engineered this immune system to create mosquitoes
that are better at blocking the transmission of the human malaria
parasite Plasmodium falciparum."
