WASHINGTON — Think your job’s tedious? Try beheading 100 mosquitoes an hour.
Gently, no smushing allowed. Malaria parasites lurk in the salivary glands, and a small company needs them unharmed for a dramatic test, attempting the first live vaccine to fight malaria.
Mutant mosquitoes also might help one day. Their eyes glow green under a special microscope, a sign that the University of Maryland’s genetic engineering has taken hold. These bugs should become malaria incubators, a bid to get more of the vaccine’s key ingredient per insect.
A global push is on to eradicate this ancient scourge, and increasingly, scientists are exploring how to use the mosquito to help — not just with the vaccine but also by breeding insects that are less able to spread malaria.
“It’s really gene therapy for insects,” says Dr. David O’Brochta, who heads the university’s novel laboratory and is creating both bug types.
