A newly discovered mosquito virus could be used to combat malaria, Johns Hopkins researchers found.
The virus, which is infectious to the mosquito responsible for transmitting malaria, could be altered to kill the mosquito or make it incapable of transmitting the disease, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Malaria Research Institute.
The findings were published online Friday in the journal PLoS Pathogens.
The virus, AgDNV, is common to mosquitoes and other insects, but doesn’t infect humans, researchers said.
To test their theory, researchers used the virus to alter a gene that made the mosquito glow green under the microscope.
The virus could be used to produce a lethal toxin to kill the mosquito or make it harmless.
“When the virus infects the mosquitos, they would be unable, in theory, to transmit malaria,” said Jason Rasgon, an assistant professor with the school’s molecular microbiology department and senior author of the study.
Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that sickens more than 500 million people and kills more than 1 million people worldwide each year, according to the World Health Organization. People living in the poorest countries are most at risk for malaria.
Symptoms include fever, headache and vomiting, and appear between 10 to 15 days after the mosquito bite.
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