Plugging away
A mosquito’s ability to transmit disease depends on its sexual behaviour
SMACK! You’ve managed violently to halt a mosquito snacking on your blood. But how likely is it that the departed beastie was the kind that transmits malaria? The latest research shows that the answer has a lot to do with intimate details of the bug’s sex life.
There are a few hundred mosquito species in the genus Anopheles, but just a few are responsible for a great majority of the 600,000 annual malaria deaths. Most Anophelines are poor hosts for the Plasmodium parasites that cause the disease. But the differences between the dangerous mosquitoes and the merely annoying ones have remained unclear. That is changing, as the genetic and sexual particulars of Anophelines are laid bare.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline "Plugging away"
From the February 28th 2015 edition
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