Mosquito News and Research

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Artificial Roosts for Bats May Be Harmful, Researchers Warn

Artificial roosts for bats come in many forms—bat boxes, condos, bark mimics, clay roosts, and cinder block structures, to name a few—but a new conservation practice and policy article from researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign suggests the structures haven't been studied rigorously enough and may harm bats in some scenarios.

1 Sep 2023

Supporting Informed Decisions on Malaria Biocontrol Interventions

Following World Mosquito Day, we spoke with Dr. Michael Santos from GeneConvene Global Collaborative about using genetically engineered mosquitoes to help tackle malaria and how the Collaborative supports informed decision-making regarding this potentially game-changing technique.

21 Aug 2023

Malaria Parasite’s Meiosis Could Hold the Key to New Treatments

Researchers from the Universities of Leicester and Nottingham have been awarded nearly £600,000 to investigate how sexual development and gene shuffling inside the malaria parasite can help regulate malaria transmission.

7 Aug 2023

Researchers Develop New Way to Genetically Suppress Malaria-Carrying Mosquitoes

Malaria remains one of the world's deadliest diseases. Each year malaria infections result in hundreds of thousands of deaths, with the majority of fatalities occurring in children under five.

6 Jul 2023

Understanding How Malaria Parasite Modulates Apicoplast Gene Expression

A recent study supported by Tokyo Tech’s World Research Hub Initiative discovered that gene expression within the apicoplast, an organelle in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, is controlled by melatonin (the circadian signaling hormone) in host blood and intrinsic parasite cues via a factor called ApSigma.

5 Jul 2023

A New Class of Molecular Sensor Prevents Parasite Replication and Transmission

Malaria continues to be a serious public health issue, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, with almost 250 million cases per year and 621,000 fatalities.

19 Jun 2023

Fungal Invasion Threatens Amphibian Biodiversity in North America

According to recent studies, the amphibian biodiversity could suffer greatly if the fungus infection Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) were introduced to North America.

15 Jun 2023

Determining the Genome of West Nile Virus

Connecticut Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (CVMDL) researchers from UConn’s College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources determined the genetic makeup of West Nile virus strains reported in an alpaca and a crow.

7 Jun 2023

Molecular Rhythms of Malaria Parasites Sync With the Biological Clock of Human Hosts

Health officials warn that drug resistance could wipe out recent progress against malaria, particularly in Africa and southeast Asia.

7 Jun 2023

Temperature Preference of Mosquitos Identified

Mosquitoes have thermal inclinations. This is a significant parameter to better forecast outbreaks of diseases that have been transmitted by such insects.

29 May 2023

Large Testing Arena Helps Study How Mosquitoes Find Us Over Long Distances

We know a lot about mosquito preferences up close, but how do mosquitoes find us from up to a hundred meters away? Using an ice-rink-sized outdoor testing arena in Zambia, researchers found that human body odor is critical for mosquito host-seeking behavior over long distances.

22 May 2023

Newly Identified Broad-Spectrum Antivirals Can Target Multiple Families of RNA Viruses

A new study has identified potential broad-spectrum antiviral agents that can target multiple families of RNA viruses that continue to pose a significant threat for future pandemics.

2 May 2023

Artificial Light at Night Could Significantly Impact Mosquito Behavior

A new study's finding that urban light pollution may disrupt the winter dormancy period for mosquitoes that transmit West Nile virus could be considered both good news and bad news.

11 Apr 2023

Dengue Viruses Subvert Mosquito Biology to Tamp Down Human Immune Responses

The saliva of mosquitoes infected with dengue viruses contains a substance that thwarts the human immune system and makes it easier for people to become infected with these potentially deadly viruses, new research reveals.

5 Apr 2023

Genetic welding: Evolutionary meddling with genes

With CRISPR-Cas9 technology, humans can now rapidly change the evolutionary course of animals or plants by inserting genes that can easily spread through entire populations.

29 Mar 2023

Deactivating mosquito sperm to control populations of Culex

New UC Riverside research makes it likely that proteins responsible for activating mosquito sperm can be shut down, preventing them from swimming to or fertilizing eggs.

22 Mar 2023

Climate change likely to help mosquitoes reach colder parts of the continent

Based on data that span the past 120 years, scientists at Georgetown University Medical Center have found that the mosquitoes responsible for transmitting malaria in Africa are spreading deeper into southern Africa and to higher elevations than previously recorded. The researchers estimate that Anopheles mosquito populations in sub-Saharan Africa have gained an average of 6.5 meters (21 feet) of elevation per year, and the southern limits of their ranges moved south of the equator by 4.7 kilometers (nearly 3 miles) per year.

15 Feb 2023