Scientists find transmission chain-breaker, give new hope for fight against malaria

A recent study, published online in ‘PLoS Biology’, has revealed that blocking a key protein found in Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes — the principal vector for malaria transmission to humans in Africa could thwart infection with malaria parasites and thus prevent them from transmitting the parasites to humans. The study was undertaken by Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In a lab experiment, the researchers used CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology to delete the gene for a protein called CTL4 from Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes. This deletion made the mosquitoes highly resistant to the malaria parasite. The researchers found that disrupting the CTL4 protein brought a 64 percent decrease in infection prevalence. The researchers believe that targeting the CTL4 protein could be the basis for new strategies to control malaria in regions where it is still endemic.

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