Scientists have discovered four proteins that affect the ability of the parasite that causes malaria to survive in mosquitoes.The finding could lead to new ways to prevent the mosquito-borne disease, which causes an estimated 2.7 million deaths worldwide each year, the researchers report.Two of the proteins protect the Plasmodium parasite from being destroyed as it multiplies in a mosquito’s gut, say researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany. The other two proteins, meanwhile, help the mosquito’s immune system kill the parasite.The discovery helps explain why some mosquito species transmit malaria, while others do not, say reports in two journals, Cell and Science.
