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Nature 417, 387-388 (23 May 2002) | doi:10.1038/417387a

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Medicine: Anti-malarial mosquitoes?

Gareth J. Lycett1 & Fotis C. Kafatos1

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Researchers have generated genetically altered mosquitoes with a reduced ability to transmit the malaria parasite in the lab. This is an important proof of principle, but there's still a long road ahead.

Ever since molecular biologists discovered how to genetically transform fruitflies, malaria researchers have dreamt about using similar techniques to turn disease-carrying mosquitoes into harmless pests. If such 'transgenic' mosquitoes were genetically fit but unable to transmit the malaria-causing parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, and if they could be introduced into natural populations at a high enough frequency, they might reduce the prevalence of this disease.

  1. Gareth J. Lycett and Fotis C. Kafatos are in the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
    e-mails: Email: lycett@embl-heidelberg.de; Email: dg-office@embl-heidelberg.de