Researchers Identify Drugs to Treat Malaria-Carrying Insects (1)

In the fight against malaria, global health workers have long relied on bed nets treated with insecticide to ward off disease-transmitting mosquitos. But with insecticide resistance rising, a new study suggests an alternative approach: Use drugs to cure the insects before they can infect anyone.

Malaria spreads when a mosquito infected with a parasite bites a human.

“The real killer is the parasite that is transmitted by those mosquitos,” said Flaminia Catteruccia, a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a co-author of the research. “So by eliminating the parasite, we eliminate the source of malaria.”

The ...