June 12, 2012 Mosquitoes bred to be unable to infect people with
the malaria parasite are an attractive approach to helping curb
one of the world's most pressing public health issues, according
to UC Irvine scientists. Anthony James and colleagues from UCI
and the Pasteur Institute in Paris have produced a model of the
Anopheles stephensi mosquito -- a major source of malaria in
India and the Middle East -- that impairs the development of the
malaria parasite. These mosquitoes, in turn, cannot transmit the
disease through their bites. "Our group has made significant
advances with the creation of transgenic mosquitoes," said
James, a UCI Distinguished Professor of microbiology & molecular
genetics and molecular biology & biochemistry. "But this is the
first model of a malaria vector with a genetic modification that
can potentially exist in wild populations and be transferred
through generations without affecting their fitness." More than
40 percent of the world's population lives in areas where there
is a risk