A study published last week at Public Library of Science have found anti-malarial properties in a certain species of bacteria, Chromobacteria. The deadly malaria parasite, Plasmodia, is carried in the mosquitos of stomachs. There have been efforts to genetically alter mosquito to be unable to carry the plasmodium parasite, but this effort aims directly at the mosquito's stomach. Scientists plan to feed mosquitos Chromobacteria to the mosquitos, and as result, the mosquitos are unable to carry the Plasmodia parasite in their stomachs. If mosquitos are unable to carry the parasite, then they are unable to infect humans. In the laboratory, researchers at John Hopkins University, have theorized an explanation for the neutralization of the malaria parasite through the bacteria. The bacteria does two thing- one it activates the mosquito's immune system to kill the parasites naturally and two it directly kills the parasite and dengue virus. The Chromobacteria is not known to infect humans but further research must be done. If this can effectively be implemented, millions of lives could be saved from malaria and dengue fever, two diseases transmitted by mosquitos.
I think this is a great idea but isn't it kind of unrealistic? There are millions of mosquitoes in the world, how is removing Plasmodia in one mosquito going to make a difference? It is quite impossible on the other hand to remove Plasmodia from every mosquito.
ReplyDeleteAt this point, spreading the anti-malarial bacteria is unknown, but scientists are still conducting research to find the most effective method of bacterial implementation.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is very encouraging. Is it possible to make the chromobacteria into a vaccine? Wouldn't that be smarter?
ReplyDeleteThis seems like it could have a huge impact on biomedical warfare. Couldn't this same technique be used to infect mosquitoes with more viruses and have them spread the virus to a population of a country?
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