News (Scientific)

To be able to reproduce and become effective disease carriers, mosquitoes must first attain optimal body size and nutritional status. A pair of researchers have succeeded in using CRISPR-Cas9, a powerful tool for altering DNA sequences and modifying gene function, to decrease mosquito body size, moving the research one step closer to eliminating mosquitoes that carry dengue fever and Zika virus.

Host decoy traps which mimic humans or cattle by combining odor, heat and a conspicuous visual stimulus could be effective at measuring and controlling outdoor-biting mosquitoes in malaria endemic regions.

An insulin-binding protein in fruit flies could provide new opportunities for tackling disease-carrying mosquitoes, such as malaria and yellow fever.

New research shows how the cyto-adhesion of plasmodium-infected red blood cells is enhanced at febrile temperatures.

Researchers have documented the permissible limits of a number of chemicals that are often part of anti-malarial efficacy tests. Their results provide a previously undetermined dataset on drug reconstitution conditions at which both the red cell integrity and plasmodium growth and proliferation are not compromised.

Scientists have been trying to develop a vaccine that prevents mosquitoes from spreading malaria among humans. This unique approach -- in which immunized humans transfer anti-malarial proteins to mosquitoes when bitten -- is called a transmission-blocking vaccine (TBV). A new biotech advancement moves us closer to this goal.

Malaria-infected red blood cells trigger the immune system's first line of defense by releasing small vesicles that activate a pathogen recognition receptor called MDA5, according to a new study.

A discovery may open up new ways to control steroid hormone-mediated processes, including growth and development in insects, and sexual maturation, immunity, and cancer progression in humans.

Malaria parasites have evolved to be most infectious at the time of day when mosquitoes feed, to maximize their chances of being spread.

Since December 2016, Brazil has been grappling with its worst yellow fever outbreak for several decades. Research has now demonstrated that the yellow fever virus can be transmitted via Aedes albopictus, the tiger mosquito. This opportunistic species is capable of colonizing both urban and forest areas.

Researchers have discovered a way to halt the invasion of the toxoplasmosis-causing parasite into cells, depriving the parasite of a key factor necessary for its growth. The findings are a key step in getting closer to a vaccine to protect pregnant women from the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which carries a serious risk of miscarriage or birth defects.

Researchers have eliminated caged mosquitoes using 'gene drive' technology to spread a genetic modification that blocks female reproduction.

Scientists have found a way to boost the efficacy of the antimalarial drug artemesinin with the help of chemotherapy medicines. Artemisinin works through a 'double whammy' attack on the deadly parasite. The drug damages proteins in malaria parasites and clogs the parasite's waste disposal system, known as the proteasome, which chemo can target.

A study indicates the possibility of using tiny vesicles derived from human immature red blood cell as a vaccine platform.

Researchers have identified compounds that could prevent malaria parasites from being able to infect mosquitoes, halting the spread of disease.

There are more clinical phenotypes of severe malaria than those defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), according to a new study. The results indicate that heart failure can be a pathogenic mechanism of disease, which has implications in the clinical management of these patients.

A new tool uses a smartphone camera, a small 3D-printed box and a simple chemical test to show whether a dead mosquito belongs to the Aedes aegypti species, which carries Zika and other devastating viruses that afflict an estimated 100 million people worldwide each year.

Heartbeat irregularities connected to brain activity abnormalities may lead to the ability to predict eventual epileptic seizures in subjects who suffered physical or infectious brain insults, according to Penn State researchers who studied mouse models of cerebral malaria, which often causes epilepsy in those who survive.

New drug-resistant strains of the parasite that causes malaria tend to evolve in regions with lower malaria risk; in areas with high transmission rates, they get outcompeted by the more common, drug-sensitive strains inside the human host. In high-transmission settings, it takes a long time for drug-resistant strains to take hold, but once they do, they can spread rapidly, according to a new study.

Nearly 700 million people suffer from mosquito-borne diseases -- such as malaria, West Nile, Zika and dengue fever -- each year, resulting in more than 1 million deaths. Today, researchers report a new class of mosquito repellents based on naturally occurring compounds that are effective in repelling the bugs, including those that are resistant to pyrethroid insecticides and repellents.