News (Scientific)

Employing a strategy known as 'population modification,' which involves using a CRISPR-Cas9 gene drive system to introduce genes preventing parasite transmission into mosquito chromosomes, researchers have made a major advance in the use of genetic technologies to control the transmission of malaria parasites.

A test for malaria looks like a bandage, but can diagnose the disease in minutes without the need for medical expertise or specialized equipment.

The main parasite that causes malaria can alter its gene expression to survive undetected in the human blood stream, new research has shown.

Use of preventive antimalarial treatments reduces by half the number of malaria infections among schoolchildren, according to a new analysis published today in The Lancet Global Health.

Artificial light abnormally increases mosquito biting behavior at night in a species that typically prefers to bite people during the day, according to new research.

A new study by a bevy of expert mosquito researchers offers an important warning to consumers: Products claiming to reduce mosquito populations with salt-water solutions are ineffective. In a series of lab tests using nine mosquito species, researchers found no evidence that adult mosquitoes are killed by salt ingested at concentrations used in several popular mosquito-control products.

New insight on the molecular mechanisms that allow malaria parasites to move and spread disease within their hosts has just been published. The first X-ray structures of the molecular complex that allows malaria parasites to spread disease highlight a novel target for antimalarial treatments.

A group of scientists provide insights into the molecular structure of proteins involved in the gliding movements through which the parasites causing malaria and toxoplasmosis invade human cells.

Through a simple process of heating and cooling, researchers have created a new crystal form of deltamethrin -- a common insecticide used to control malaria -- resulting in an insecticide that is up to 12 times more effective against mosquitoes than the existing form.

A team of researchers has found that the Plasmodium parasite, which transmits malaria to humans through infected mosquitos, triggers changes in human genes that alter the body's adaptive immune response to malarial infections.

A new computational model suggests that certain mutations that block infection by the most dangerous species of malaria have not become widespread in people because of the parasite's effects on the immune system.

The parasites that cause 200 million cases of malaria each year can withstand feverish temperatures that make their human hosts miserable. Now, a team is beginning to understand how they do it. The researchers have identified a lipid-protein combo that springs into action to gird the parasite's innards against heat shock. Understanding how malaria protects its cells against heat and other onslaughts could lead to new ways to fight tough-to-kill strains, researchers say.

A class of compounds used for malaria treatment also kill the intestinal parasite Cryptosporidium, a leading cause of diarrheal disease and death in children that has no cure, a multi-institution collaboration of researchers found in a new study.

Scientists have developed a tool for studying the biting behavior of common pathogen-carrying mosquitoes.

A multi-disciplinary research collaboration created a field-applicable, ultrasensitive diagnostic assay that specifically detects DNA sequences from all Plasmodium species in symptomatic and asymptomatic malaria. The new malaria diagnostic method combines an optimized 10-minute rapid sample preparation protocol with the CRISPR-based SHERLOCK system to enable highly specific and sensitive Plasmodium detection in another 60 minutes in simple reporter devices.

The secret of how the Dantu genetic blood variant helps to protect against malaria has been revealed for the first time. The team found that red blood cells in people with the rare Dantu blood variant have a higher surface tension that prevents them from being invaded by the world's deadliest malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.

Researchers discovered that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can't grab hold of cell receptor ACE2 without a carbohydrate called heparan sulfate, which is also found on lung cell surfaces -- disrupting that interaction with a repurposed drug may help treat COVID-19.

West Nile virus spreads most efficiently in the US at temperatures between 24-25 degrees Celsius (75.2-77 degrees Fahrenheit), a new study shows.

Disease-spreading mosquitoes may be more likely to occupy areas impacted by human activities like pesticide use and habitat destruction, than they are areas less disturbed by humans, a recent study found.

An international study reveals how future climate change could affect malaria transmission in Africa over the next century.