The mosquito Anopheles gambiae is something of a gourmet. It feeds almost exclusively on human blood. Its preference for humans and its ability to seek them out, in fact, are what makes the tiny insect such a deadly “vector” for the spread of malaria, a disease that causes millions of deaths annually.

This week the complete genome for A. gambiae was published. As part of that effort, a team of researchers from Vanderbilt University, the University of Notre Dame and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have identified the genes that code for a special class of proteins that plays a critical role in almost every aspect of the insect’s life cycle, including its ability to see, taste, touch, and smell.

“This is an important step forward in our ability to first understand the mosquitos’ host preference and tracking system and then to interfere with it in a way that can save human lives in an economically feasible and environmentally benign fashion,” says Laurence J. Zwiebel, assistant professor of biological sciences at Vanderbilt University who led the study.

By David F. Salisbury
October 2, 2002