Mar 17, 2025 04:33 PM
https://reason.com/2025/03/16/malaria-va...uito-bite/
EXCERPT: But what if mosquitoes could deliver not just the disease but the protection? In a groundbreaking proof-of-concept clinical trial, researchers in the Netherlands recruited mosquitoes to deliver an antimalaria vaccine with each bite. As The New England Journal of Medicine reported in November, the mosquitoes were infected with attenuated malaria parasites modified to die a week after multiplying in the livers of the trial subjects bitten by the mosquitoes. Allowing the parasites to proliferate briefly in liver cells, the researchers hoped, would induce a strong protective immune system response.
Remarkably, it worked—nearly 90 percent of the subjects later bitten by mosquitoes carrying the natural malaria parasite did not contract the disease. This initial immune response suggests that the protection offered will last longer than current vaccines.
While mosquitoes as vaccine-delivery systems might sound futuristic, the concept has opened a new frontier in malaria prevention. For practical use, the next step is to test and develop an injectable vaccine using the modified parasites. If successful, this could revolutionize how doctors approach mass immunization efforts... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPT: But what if mosquitoes could deliver not just the disease but the protection? In a groundbreaking proof-of-concept clinical trial, researchers in the Netherlands recruited mosquitoes to deliver an antimalaria vaccine with each bite. As The New England Journal of Medicine reported in November, the mosquitoes were infected with attenuated malaria parasites modified to die a week after multiplying in the livers of the trial subjects bitten by the mosquitoes. Allowing the parasites to proliferate briefly in liver cells, the researchers hoped, would induce a strong protective immune system response.
Remarkably, it worked—nearly 90 percent of the subjects later bitten by mosquitoes carrying the natural malaria parasite did not contract the disease. This initial immune response suggests that the protection offered will last longer than current vaccines.
While mosquitoes as vaccine-delivery systems might sound futuristic, the concept has opened a new frontier in malaria prevention. For practical use, the next step is to test and develop an injectable vaccine using the modified parasites. If successful, this could revolutionize how doctors approach mass immunization efforts... (MORE - missing details)