Current Events -Malarial Mosquitoes Are Evolving Into New Species, Say Researchers

Blaise Sevier

7B

October 31^st, 2010

Malarial Mosquitoes Are Evolving Into New Species, Say Researchers

By ScienceDaily (Oct. 21, 2010)

Did you know that every 30 seconds a child dies from Malaria in Africa? There are two-hundred fifty cases of Malaria every year, and overall about 1,000,000 deaths per year. Did you know that there are about 2,500 species of mosquito in the world? Anopheles is a gene of a mosquito that carries malaria. There are about three hundred eighty species of anopheles, and only sixty can transmit malaria. The Imperial Colege of London has recently looked at two strains of Anopheles Gambiae Mosquito (this is the mosquito that carries malaria). The strains that were looked at are called S and M; they are identical in a physical since. New studies show that they have a genetically different, which means that they are becoming a totally different species. The cause and effect of this situation here is that the effort that goes into keeping the mosquito population under control maybe be extremely effective on one strain of mosquito but not on the other.  What scientists need to do is create an insecticide that can prevent both species from over populating. "Malaria is a deadly disease that affects millions of people across the world and amongst children in Africa; it causes one in every five deaths. We know that the best way to reduce the number of people who contract malaria is to control the mosquitoes that carry the disease. Our studies help us to understand the makeup of the mosquitoes that transmit malaria, so that we can find new ways of preventing them from infecting people." Says Professor George Christophides.

                I was looking through different articles about animals when I stumbled upon this one, the first line really intrigued me to reading this. I was amazed how many people die from this one disease alone! My dad had malaria before when he was in Africa; he had to be immediately shipped back to the States because it was so serious. This article relates to the unit that we are studying; we are studying about the effects of overpopulation and how it can severely hurt other organisms. Humans are the “other organisms” in this situation.  Because it is Malaria is a disease that kills a lot of people in this world, it is almost like mosquitoes that carry malaria are our top predators!

Sites Used:
 "Malarial Mosquitoes Are Evolving into New Species, Say Researchers." Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. Web. 31 Oct. 2010. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101020151324.htm>.