Mosquito News and Research

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Asaia Bacteria Accelerate Mosquito Larvae Growth

Mosquito larvae grow faster if they're exposed to particular bacteria, according to a new study that could help global health programmes.

5 Nov 2024

Rare Cases of Airport and Luggage Malaria Persist in Europe Despite Malaria Eradication in the 1970s

The study on Odyssean malaria reveals increasing airport and luggage transmission of Plasmodium, emphasizing the importance of monitoring in Europe.

17 Oct 2024

Mosquitoes use Salivary Protein to Aid Malaria Parasite Transmission

The study identifies AgApyrase as a key protein in mosquito saliva, enhancing Plasmodium transmission by regulating blood clot breakdown and immune response.

30 Sep 2024

New Insights into Mosquito Mating Could Enhance Malaria Control Strategies

A high-pitched buzzing sound in your ear is an unmistakable sign that a female mosquito is out on the hunt -; for they, not males, drink blood. Hearing that tone might make you turn to try to swat the pest. But for a male mosquito, that tone means it's time to mate.

2 Sep 2024

New Research Reveals Infrared Radiation as a Mosquito Host-Seeking Trigger

While a mosquito bite is often no more than a temporary bother, in many parts of the world it can be scary. One mosquito species, Aedes aegypti, spreads the viruses that cause over 100,000,000 cases of dengue, yellow fever, Zika, and other diseases every year. Another, Anopheles gambiae, spreads the parasite that causes malaria. The World Health Organization estimates that malaria alone causes more than 400,000 deaths every year. Indeed, their capacity to transmit disease has earned mosquitoes the title of deadliest animal.

23 Aug 2024

New Approach for Targeted Genome Editing in Wild Populations

Researchers from Macquarie University and the California Institute of Technology have discovered a novel method that, when published in Nature Communications on August 13th, 2024, might make it easier and more controllable for scientists to modify the genetic composition of wild populations than when using gene drives.

14 Aug 2024

Revolutionary Bacterial Engineering Reduces Mosquito Attraction in Mice

Genetically engineered human skin bacteria can make mice less attractive to mosquitoes for 11 days. Mosquitoes transmit a host of deadly diseases, including malaria, West Nile, dengue, yellow fever, and Zika.

1 Aug 2024

Harvard Researchers Crack the Code on Western Equine Encephalitis Decline

The story of the rise and fall of western equine encephalitis as a lethal disease offers essential lessons about how a pathogen can gain or lose its ability to jump from animals to humans.

29 Jul 2024

Decoding Dengue: The Use of Less Efficient Codons for Viral Advantage

Mosquito-borne viral infections once confined to tropical regions are spreading. Dengue virus infects up to 400 million people worldwide each year according to World Health Organization estimates, and no available treatments exist for this disease.

24 Jul 2024

SPT Labtech Brings the Power of Miniaturization to More Genomics Researchers with mosquito® Gen3

SPT Labtech, a global leader in the design, development and manufacture of automated instrumentation and consumables for life science applications, has expanded its nanoliter liquid handling portfolio with the launch of mosquito Gen3.

From SPT Labtech 12 Jun 2024

Study Reveals How tRNA Modification Influences Malaria Drug Resistance

Researchers from the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), have discovered a link between malaria parasites’ ability to develop resistance to antimalarial drugs – specifically artemisinin (ART) – through a cellular process called transfer Ribonucleic acid (tRNA) modification.

20 May 2024

Researchers Advocate for “Pathogen Prospecting” to Fight Malaria

A team of scientists is urging colleagues worldwide to participate in what they refer to as “pathogen prospecting,” which involves locating archival mosquito specimens in collections and museums and examining them for pathogens that could have transmitted malaria to humans while feeding on their blood.

2 Apr 2024

Unraveling the Complexities of Sugar Sensing in Insects

Insects have numerous receptors on their tongues, each of which can detect a different kind of sugar, unlike humans who have a single receptor on their tongues that can detect all kinds of sweets, including artificial sweeteners like aspartame.

7 Mar 2024

‘Like a PCR Lab in Your Pocket': New Test Strips Raise Game in Gene-Based Diagnostics

Biosensing technology developed by UNSW engineers has made it possible to make portable RAT tests just as accurate as PCR tests carried out in a lab.

7 Mar 2024

Immune System Surprise: "Junk Cells" Show Ability to Fight Malaria

Researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) have discovered a previously unknown ability of a group of immune system cells, known as Atypical B cells (ABCs), to fight infectious diseases such as malaria.

9 Feb 2024

Study Finds Surprising Diversity in Mosquito Heat Tolerance

Certain populations of mosquitoes are more heat tolerant and better equipped to survive heat waves than others, according to new research from Washington University in St. Louis.

11 Jan 2024

Insights from the Migratory Behavior of Mosquito Bats

According to a recent study published in the journal Biology Letters, mosquito bats possess a magnetic compass that they calibrate at sunset.

13 Dec 2023

Wolbachia’s Fertility Magic: Implications for Mosquito Population Control

A recent investigation uncovers the biological processes through which a particular bacteria strain belonging to the Wolbachia genus may boost the reproductive capabilities of the insects it invades.

25 Oct 2023

Phylogenomics Provide Insight About Mosquitoes’ Previous Host Use

The mapping of the mosquito’s tree of life by North Carolina State University researchers and international partners is a significant step in comprehending key characteristics, such as how the insects select their hosts, feed on blood, and transmit disease.

19 Oct 2023