https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. One of the main discoveries of a new study is the identification of new variants in genes associated with insecticide resistance in Anopheles mosquitoes, the primary vectors of malaria in West Africa, and potential novel resistance mechanisms, emphasizing the importance of genomic surveillance. Variations were observed in the voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC) and acetylcholinesterase (ACE1) genes, which are key targets for insecticides used in long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS). https://phys.org/news/2024-10-wild-mosquitoes-burkina-faso-insecticide.html Ecology Thu, 17 Oct 2024 16:00:16 EDT news648399612 Research led by the Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, has developed a gene drive solution for mitigating malaria transmission from mosquitoes. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-mosquito-friendly-gene-malaria-free-future.html Biotechnology Wed, 19 Jul 2023 10:40:01 EDT news608981566 The appendages that protrude from a mosquito's head hold the sensory systems that account for nearly all of its ability to detect and respond to a wide range of chemical signals that are critical for its reproduction and its survival. At the molecular level, these systems rely on genes that make up three families of chemosensory receptors. These genes include gustatory (taste) receptors, ionotropic receptors and odorant receptors that collectively facilitate a wide range of essential behaviors. https://phys.org/news/2022-06-discovery-mosquito-survival-tactics-room.html Plants & Animals Wed, 01 Jun 2022 16:36:38 EDT news573320194 It's always you, isn't it? The person busy swatting away buzzing backyard mosquitoes or nursing an arm full of itchy red lumps after a weekend camping trip. https://phys.org/news/2020-02-true-mosquitoes-people.html Plants & Animals Tue, 11 Feb 2020 10:50:01 EST news500639440 New technology employing single cell genome sequencing of the parasite that causes malaria has yielded some surprising results and helps pave the way for possible new intervention strategies for this deadly infectious disease, according to Texas Biomedical Research Institute Assistant Professor Ian Cheeseman, Ph.D. Dr. Cheeseman was Principal Investigator of a three-year study published in the January 2020 edition of Cell Host & Microbe, a high-impact peer-reviewed publication. https://phys.org/news/2020-01-reveals-complex-malaria-infections.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 09 Jan 2020 03:47:38 EST news497764053 Researchers at LSTM have identified a completely new mechanism by which mosquitoes that carry malaria are becoming resistant to insecticide. https://phys.org/news/2019-12-mosquitoes-toxins-legs.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 25 Dec 2019 13:00:05 EST news496472098 Scientists have finally found malaria's Achilles' heel, a neurotoxin that isn't harmful to any living thing except Anopheles mosquitoes that spread malaria. https://phys.org/news/2019-06-deadly-malaria-chemicals.html Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 28 Jun 2019 02:36:57 EDT news480908211 Host decoy traps which mimic humans or cattle by combining odour, heat and a conspicuous visual stimulus could be effective at measuring and controlling outdoor-biting mosquitoes in malaria endemic regions, according to a study published in the open access journal Parasites & Vectors. https://phys.org/news/2018-10-human-cattle-decoys-malaria-mosquitoes.html Plants & Animals Mon, 15 Oct 2018 02:44:39 EDT news458790269 Surprisingly few of the more than 3,000 mosquito species actually specialise in biting humans. Instead, most are opportunistic feeders – feeding when they are able and from lots of different sources. But Aedes aegypti and Anopheles gambiae are well known for their preference for human blood and their role as vectors which transmit disease in humans. Ae. aegypti has been linked to zika and dengue, while An. gambiae carries the parasite which causes malaria. https://phys.org/news/2018-08-mosquitoes-people.html Plants & Animals Fri, 17 Aug 2018 10:40:02 EDT news453720348 By combining studies on one species of malaria-carrying mosquito, researchers found that no other animals rely solely on them for food. https://phys.org/news/2018-07-malaria-carrying-mosquitoes-affect-ecosystems.html Ecology Thu, 26 Jul 2018 10:33:20 EDT news451819984 For decades, chemical pesticides have been the most important way of controlling insects like the Anopheles mosquito species that spreads malaria to humans. Unfortunately, the bugs have fought back, evolving genetic shields to protect themselves and their offspring from future attacks. https://phys.org/news/2018-01-genetic-mosquitoes-survive-pesticide.html Ecology Tue, 02 Jan 2018 15:07:07 EST news434128015 A previously unknown feature of the malaria parasite development has just been published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe. https://phys.org/news/2016-11-lack-plasmodium-surface-protein-blocks-mosquito.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 09 Nov 2016 12:00:30 EST news397915214 Female mosquitoes are well known blood-feeders, but they also consume sugar sources such as nectar, fruits and tree sap. A study published on August 4th in PLOS Pathogens suggests that the plant-based part of their diet affects malaria transmission by influencing the host-pathogen interaction between Anopheles mosquitoes and Plasmodium parasites. https://phys.org/news/2016-08-green-sweet-sugars-malaria-transmission.html Ecology Thu, 04 Aug 2016 14:38:35 EDT news389540304 Scientists, led by Dr Jaroslaw Krzywinski, Head of the Vector Molecular Biology group at The Pirbright Institute have isolated a gene, which determines maleness in the species of mosquito that is responsible for transmitting malaria. The research, published in the journal Science, describes identification and characterisation of a gene, named Yob by the authors, which is the master regulator of the sex determination process in the African malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, and determines the male sex. https://phys.org/news/2016-06-scientists-maleness-gene-malaria-mosquitoes.html Biotechnology Thu, 30 Jun 2016 14:00:08 EDT news386505038 For the first time, malarial mosquitoes have been modified to be infertile and pass on the trait rapidly - raising the possibility of reducing the spread of disease. https://phys.org/news/2015-12-mosquitoes-malaria.html Biotechnology Mon, 07 Dec 2015 11:00:08 EST news368706850 Two University of Canterbury (UC) researchers' insights about two species of spider that feed preferentially on mosquitoes have been published in the Journal of Arachnology in America. https://phys.org/news/2015-08-mosquito-terminators-vampire-spiders.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 26 Aug 2015 05:53:08 EDT news359787164 Sexual biology may be the key to uncovering why Anopheles mosquitoes are unique in their ability to transmit malaria to humans, according to researchers at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and University of Perugia, Italy. Through analysis of 16 Anopheles genomes, they found that these mosquitoes' reproductive traits evolved along with their capacity to transmit the Plasmodium parasite that causes malaria. These findings may provide a new target for malaria control, particularly in regions hardest hit by the disease. https://phys.org/news/2015-02-malaria-transmission-linked-mosquitoes-sexual.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 26 Feb 2015 14:00:12 EST news344175702 Females of the malaria-spreading mosquito tend to obtain their blood meals within human dwellings. Indeed, this mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, spends much of its adult life indoors where it is constantly exposed to human odor - from used clothing, bedding, etc. - even when people are absent. https://phys.org/news/2015-01-malaria-spreading-mosquitoes-youre-home.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 22 Jan 2015 14:30:19 EST news341159409 Interbreeding of two malaria mosquito species in the West African country of Mali has resulted in a "super mosquito" hybrid that's resistant to insecticide-treated bed nets. https://phys.org/news/2015-01-hybrid-super-mosquito-resistant-insecticide-treated.html Biotechnology Mon, 12 Jan 2015 14:49:21 EST news340296553 Nora Besansky, O'Hara Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame and a member of the University's Eck Institute for Global Health, has led an international team of scientists in sequencing the genomes of 16 Anopheles mosquito species from around the world. https://phys.org/news/2014-11-mosquitoes-malaria-scientists-cousins-grown.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 27 Nov 2014 14:00:06 EST news336315270 Native bacteria living inside mosquitoes prevent the insects from passing Wolbachia bacteria—which can make the mosquitoes resistant to the malaria parasite—to their offspring, according to a team of researchers. https://phys.org/news/2014-08-native-bacteria-block-wolbachia-mosquito.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 11 Aug 2014 15:00:03 EDT news326980964 Researchers have found the first evidence of an intercellular bacterial infection in natural populations of two species of Anopheles mosquitoes, the major vectors of malaria in Africa. The infection, called Wolbachia, has been shown in labs to reduce the incidence of pathogen infections in mosquitoes and has the potential to be used in controlling malaria-transmitting mosquito populations. https://phys.org/news/2014-06-infection-malaria-transmitting-mosquito.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 06 Jun 2014 05:42:16 EDT news321252126 Researchers at LSTM have discovered how unprecedented multiple and extreme-level resistance is generated in mosquitoes found in the rice fields of Tiassalé in southern Côte d'Ivoire. The paper, "CYP6 P450 enzymes and ACE-1 duplication produce extreme and multiple insecticide resistance in the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae" published in PLoS Genetics today, highlights the combination of stringently-replicated whole genome transcription profiling, in vivo transgenic gene expression and in vitro metabolism assays to identify and validate genes from the P450 detoxification enzyme superfamily which are highly expressed in the adult females from the area. https://phys.org/news/2014-03-secret-multiple-insecticide-resistance-mosquitoes.html Biotechnology Fri, 21 Mar 2014 11:00:02 EDT news314617295 Using advanced methodologies that pit drug compounds against specific types of malaria parasite cells, an international team of scientists, including researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, have identified a potential new weapon and approach for attacking the parasites that cause malaria. https://phys.org/news/2013-11-enzyme-mosquito-borne-parasite-aim-malaria.html Biotechnology Wed, 27 Nov 2013 13:00:06 EST news304771301 In work published this week in Nature's Scientific Reports, a team of researchers from the University of Notre Dame's Eck Institute for Global Health, led by Associate Professor Giles Duffield and Assistant Professor Zain Syed of the Department of Biological Sciences, revealed that the major malaria vector in Africa, the Anopheles gambiae mosquito, is able to smell major human host odorants better at night. https://phys.org/news/2013-08-mosquitoes-night.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 30 Aug 2013 14:56:57 EDT news297093403 Malaria mosquitoes go to work cautiously before landing on human skin and biting. Just before a mosquito lands, it reacts to both odours and heat given off by the human body. Researchers at Wageningen University came to this conclusion after studying images made with infrared-sensitive cameras. Their research was published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE on 2 May. https://phys.org/news/2013-05-flight-behaviour-hungry-malaria-mosquitoes.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 06 May 2013 09:00:02 EDT news287047990 In 2010, a study revealed that the main agent of malaria in humans, called Plasmodium falciparum, arose from the gorilla. Today, the vector which transmitted the parasite from apes to humans has just been identified. A Franco-Gabonese research consortium has determined which species of anopheles mosquitoes transfer the disease to apes. Among them is Anopheles moucheti, known for biting humans! Therefore, it must be the species which originally infected us through our cousins. And it could do it again today. https://phys.org/news/2013-05-malaria-vector-infecting-apes-humans.html Plants & Animals Fri, 03 May 2013 09:16:34 EDT news286791386 A surprising research discovery in mosquitoes could affect future prospects for malaria control. A team of scientists from West Africa, the United States and the United Kingdom found that the mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, which was thought to be splitting into two completely new species, may actually have a more complex range of forms due to frequent inter-mating. The resulting hybrids may have implications for insecticide resistance and malaria parasite infectivity. The study published in the April 2013 issue of the journal GENETICS, documents substantial amounts of hybridization among two separate mosquito types in a large area spanning four countries in sub-Saharan western Africa. https://phys.org/news/2013-04-mosquito-genetic-complexity-efforts-malaria.html Biotechnology Mon, 01 Apr 2013 10:15:39 EDT news284030133 Mosquitoes bred to be unable to infect people with the malaria parasite are an attractive approach to helping curb one of the world's most pressing public health issues, according to UC Irvine scientists. https://phys.org/news/2012-06-mosquitoes-incapable-transmitting-malaria.html Biotechnology Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:44:10 EDT news258720237 In a small, narrow, temperature-controlled lab room at Vanderbilt University live some of the most deadly and dangerous animals in the world. https://phys.org/news/2012-02-mosquito-repellant-mosquitoes.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 28 Feb 2012 11:37:17 EST news249651426