LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Researcher Anthony James along with his colleagues studied the molecular components in the immune systems of mice, which are able to produce antibodies that kill the malaria parasite. James and his group then created new genes that could mimic that effect in mosquitoes.

"We see a complete deletion of the infectious version of the malaria parasite," James said in the press release. "This blocking process within the insect that carries malaria can help significantly reduce human sickness and death."

A professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, James added that this is the first model of a malaria vector with a genetic modification that might be able to exist in wild populations and be passed down through generations, without the mosquitoes being compromised.

Scientists frequently alter mosquitoes in laboratory conditions due to their potential to spread malaria, dengue fever and yellow fever.

It was reported last month that mosquitoes in Africa and India that carry malaria were becoming resistant to insecticides.

In response, scientists at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute were able to genetically rework the immune systems of mosquitoes so that they'd produce higher levels of Re12 when they're feeding on blood; Re12 is an immune system protein innate to mosquitoes that can help prompt an attack on the malaria parasite by anti-parasitic molecules.

Researchers also infected mosquitoes with a strain of bacteria that makes it so the dengue virus doesn't live as long within the insect.

There have been concerns about releasing these types of genetically modified insects into the population because of their potential effects on public health and the environment.

The New York Times addressed this issue when reporting on a study last year about the release of a strain of modified mosquitoes in Grand Cayman that were programmed to kill their own offspring and help control the spread of dengue fever.

Slate magazine raised the issue of whether scientists know enough about the mating habits of mosquitoes to send modified ones out in the wild and have them out-produce their predecessors. The article pointed out that there's always the possibility that female mosquitoes will eventually just learn not to mate with the genetically modified males.

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