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Scientists in Italy say they have identified a potential weapon against malaria that lives inside the mosquitoes that spread it - their internal bacteria.
Malaria, a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite, kills at least a million people annually. Most of the victims are young children in sub-Saharan Africa.
With attempts to eradicate mosquitoes or create a vaccine so far unsuccessful, the Italian scientists set out to find any bacteria that lived symbiotically inside the pests.
Such bacteria could be genetically altered later to attack the malaria parasite when it reaches the mosquito, said Professor Daniele Daffonchio at the Universita degli Studi di Milano, one of five Italian universities behind the research.
In the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science yesterday, the team said it identified one candidate - a bacteria called Asaia, which is found throughout the mosquito's body, including the gut, salivary gland and its reproductive organs, meaning that the altered bacteria could spread to mosquito offspring.
"Instead of spraying chemical or biological pesticides, you could use this symbiotic bacteria that is passed on," Dr Daffonchio said. "You don't have to spray every year."
Research into modifying bacteria such as Asaia was being conducted to battle the deadly Chagas disease, which kills tens of thousands of people a year in Latin America.
Malaria has become resistant to some drugs, and work on a vaccine has been slow.
In Africa, malaria also is intertwined with the Aids epidemic. Recent research showed people with malaria and Aids are more likely to transmit the Aids virus to sexual partners.
- REUTERS
