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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

Promoting Viral Propagation with Decreasing Biodiversity

How are environmental changes, biodiversity decline, and disease spread related? The solution is a riddle.

27 Sep 2023

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