Japanese researchers hope one day to turn blood-sucking mosquitoes — carriers of deadly malaria — into deliverers of a vaccine that could instead inoculate millions for free.
A new study shows real promise for turning the reviled insects into heroes by genetically modifying them to make them “flying vaccinators,” according to scientists at Jichi Medical University north of Tokyo.
The researchers have already genetically modified a mosquito species so that its saliva contains a protein that acts as a vaccine against leishmaniasis, a sandfly-borne disease that triggers terrible skin sores and can be fatal.
PHOTO: AFP
The team confirmed that mice bitten by the transgenic mosquito developed an antibody to the disease, meaning they had built up immunity, said Shigeto Yoshida, the associate professor who has led the research.
Similarly the mosquitoes could be used to help combat malaria, perhaps a decade from now, the malaria expert said.
“What’s good is that they don’t charge you for vaccinations,” Yoshida told reporters by telephone yesterday. “You would be vaccinated without even noticing. You wouldn’t need any drug and you wouldn’t need to show up at a designated place for mass vaccinations.”
Repeat bites would only strengthen the immunity, he said.
For now a problem is that no effective vaccine exists, because malaria’s antigen, which triggers immune reactions, changes frequently.
However, Yoshida expects science will come up with a solution, and that the transgenic mosquito will ultimately help rid the developing world of a deadly scourge.
Nearly 1 million people die each year from malaria — most of them children — predominantly in Africa and Asia, according to the WHO.
There are several anti-malarial drugs, none of them universally effective, and a treatment, called artemisinin.
“The treatment works but it is beyond the reach of people who need to worry about food for tomorrow. They just can’t afford it,” Yoshida said. “Malaria is a disease closely linked to poverty.”
Yoshida conceded the new approach could raise ethical questions about carrying out vaccinations without informed consent.
“Technically speaking I believe it’s a matter of 10 years or so, but it’s a different issue whether society would accept it,” he said.
Another problem is that the vaccinator mosquito may still pick up and spread the infected blood of a malaria-positive person.
Yoshida’s team is hoping it can tackle this problem by developing a mosquito that kills malaria parasites inside its own body.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in