Jonathan Wilhoite Blog: Genes to Resist Malaria Invented by Scientists

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Genes to Resist Malaria Invented by Scientists

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Malaria is caused by Plasmodium, a parasite that can be passed on through mosquito bites. This parasite targets the liver and the red blood cells, which in turn may cause headache, fever, and vomiting.

It is preventable and treatable. But the bad news is that these parasites have developed resistance to drugs, just the same as bacteria have developed antibiotic-resistance. You might say it’s getting really alarming.

However, a new study led by researchers from the University of California has created mosquito genes to resist malaria. Read more in this report by Nicholas Wade on The New York Times:

Engineering Mosquitoes’ Genes to Resist Malaria

In a basement on the Irvine campus of the University of California, behind a series of five protective doors, two teams of biologists have created a novel breed of mosquito that they hope will help eradicate malaria from the world. Read more…

About 3.4 billion people in the world are living in a place where there’s a high risk of transmission, and the majority of them come from the African region, among other tropical and subtropical areas. Young children, pregnant women and travelers are particularly at risk.

The latest estimates from the World Health Organization, which was released last September, have reported that there are 214 million cases, with 438,000 deaths from the start of the year.

Hopefully, these newly invented mosquito genes to resist malaria will succeed.

Image Credit: Engineering Mosquitoes’ Genes to Resist Malaria – The New York Times

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from NUTRITIONCLUB http://nutritionclub.ca/engineered-genes-to-resist-malaria/