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The microbe that may protect mosquitos from malaria – podcast

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Every year more than 200m new cases of malaria are reported. And despite the dramatic reduction in cases and deaths over the past two decades, novel treatments and prevention strategies are badly needed. Speaking to Dr Jeremy Herren in Nairobi, Kenya, Nicola Davis hears how a newly-discovered microbe might offer mosquitos protection from the parasite and in doing so, prevent its spread

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  • Read the nature paper about the malaria-blocking microbes here
  • Dr Jeremy Herren is an entomologist and microbiologist at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology
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Original Title: A.steph_982sRGB_8<br>An Anopheles stephensi mosquito obtains a blood meal from a human host through its pointed proboscis. A known malarial vector, the species can found from Egypt all the way to China. 2004 Dr. William Collins Here, an <i>Anopheles stephensi</i> mosquito is obtaining a blood meal from a human host through its pointed proboscis. Note the droplet of blood being expelled at the tip of this <i>A. stephensi</i> mosquito after having engorged itself on its host’s blood. This mosquito is a known malarial vector with a distribution that ranges from Egypt all the way to China.
Photograph: Jim Gathany / CDC
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