Researchers Identify Bacteria that Protects Mosquitoes from Malaria Parasite

Researchers at University of Michigan have found a way to make mosquitoes resistant to malaria. The latest study found that mosquitoes can be prevented from spreading the disease with the use of bacteria called Wolbachia.

A particular strain of this bacteria can act as sort of a vaccine for the mosquitoes, protecting them from contracting the malaria parasite.

Malaria is a deadly disease and affects many people in developing countries. Today, a child dies every minute in Africa due to this disease. According to the World Health Organization, some 216 million people were infected with malaria in the year 2010, and an estimated 655,000 died from the disease.

"Wolbachia-based malaria control strategy has been discussed for the last two decades. Our work is the first to demonstrate Wolbachia can be stably established in a key malaria vector, the mosquito species Anopheles stephensi, which opens the door to use Wolbachia for malaria control," said Zhiyong Xi, MSU assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics in a news release.

The study team found that mosquitoes infected with the bacteria can spread the bacteria in the entire population, and that these mosquitoes can effectively stop the malaria parasite from spreading to humans.

Xi has previously worked on these Wolbachia bacteria and found that they can be used to prevent dengue fever. The latest study furthers the idea that these bacteria can also prevent the spread of other diseases transmitted via mosquitoes.

In the present study, researchers identified a species of the bacteria that can protect the mosquitoes from malaria. They injected thousands of mosquito embryos with wAlbB, a strain of Wolbachia. One of these mosquito embryos then resulted in female carrying the bacteria. Researchers then derived a subsequent generation of mosquitoes that were carrying the bacteria from this female carrier.

Xi said that once this bacteria is introduced in a mosquito population, it protects the entire population from malaria. This process is also economical, since it doesn't require a re-application.

The study is published in the journal Science.