An international team genetically engineered mosquitoes - which carry the malaria parasite - to produce the same protein in the gut of sea cucumbers when feeding.
The team is composed of researchers from the Jichi Medical University and the Ibaraki University in Japan; Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Maryland, U.S.; and the Imperial College London in the United Kingdom.
The slug-like creature produces a protein lectin which impairs development of the parasites that cause malaria.
According to a study published in December by PLoS (Public Library of Science) Pathogens, the protein disrupted development of the parasites inside the insects' stomach. The aim is to find a way of genetically engineering mosquitoes so that the malaria parasite cannot develop inside them.
To stimulate the mosquitoes to produce lectin, the researchers fused part of the gene from the sea cucumber which produces the protein with a gene from the insect.
The results showed that the technique was effective against several of the parasites which cause malaria, BBC reported.
