Genomes of malaria-carrying mosquitoes sequenced

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 ...

To a mosquito, matchmaking means 'singing' in perfect harmony

Researchers have new insight into the sex lives of the much-maligned mosquitoes that are responsible for the vast majority of malaria deaths, according to a report published online on December 31st in Current Biology. In ...

New study reveals the origin of complex malaria infections

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, ...

Controlling deadly malaria without chemicals

Scientists have finally found malaria's Achilles' heel, a neurotoxin that isn't harmful to any living thing except Anopheles mosquitoes that spread malaria.

Common fungus helps dengue virus thrive in mosquitoes

A species of fungus that lives in the gut of some Aedes aegypti mosquitoes increases the ability of dengue virus to survive in the insects, according to a study from researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public ...

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Anopheles

Anopheles ( /əˈnɒfɨliːz/) is a genus of mosquito. There are approximately 460 recognized species: while over 100 can transmit human malaria, only 30–40 commonly transmit parasites of the genus Plasmodium, which cause malaria in humans in endemic areas. Anopheles gambiae is one of the best known, because of its predominant role in the transmission of the most dangerous malaria parasite species – Plasmodium falciparum.

The name comes from the Greek αν, an, meaning not, and όφελος, ópheles, meaning profit, and translates to useless.

Some species of Anopheles also can serve as the vectors for canine heartworm Dirofilaria immitis, the Filariidae Wuchereria bancrofti and Brugia malayi, and viruses such as one that causes O'nyong'nyong fever. There is an association of brain tumor incidence and malaria, suggesting that the Anopheles might transmit a virus or other agent that could cause a brain tumor.

Mosquitoes in other genera (Aedes, Culex) can also serve as vectors of disease agents.

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