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I read an interesting article in a research section of a publication from my alma mater, the Univ. of Minnesota, which summarized a study in the April issue of the journal Science. Excerpts include that the increased funding from the Gates Foundation, supplemented by funds from Warrne Buffet helped finance a study led by Kenneth Vernick, a microbiology professor in the Univ's Center for Microbial and Plant Genomics.
"Female Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria to humans. Yet only a minority of mosquitos carry the malaria-causing parasite, Plasmodium. It was thought this was because most had never encountered it. But Vernick's research shows that, in fact, most Anopheles mosquitoes are genetically resistant to infection by Plasmodium and that the genes exist in a nest, or "island of reistance," on one chromosone. The work suggests that future malaria control measures could target only the susceptible minority of mosquitoes, avoiding ecologically riskier measures aimed at all mosquitoes. For example, one soil-dwelling fungus is known to kill Anopheles mosquitoes, particularly those infected with Plasmodium. If that fungus could be safely sprayed, it might eliminate a huge proportion of malaria-susceptible mosquitoes while sparing the resistant ones."
So.....chew on that.
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