We share a special episode of our podcast to mark World Mosqutio Day.

World Mosquito Day, observed annually on August 20th, commemorates British doctor Sir Ronald Ross's discovery in 1897 that female Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria to humans. More than a century later, major advancements like genetically modifying mosquitoes—AKA gene drives—have the potential to reduce malaria cases and deaths dramatically, but not without hurdles.

About The Podcast

The Johns Hopkins Malaria Minute is produced by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute to highlight impactful malaria research and to share it with the global community.

People often talk about the 'malaria toolkit' - how might gene drives fit?

Transcript

When people talk about malaria, they often mention the 'malaria toolkit' – a set of tools, like bed nets and indoor residual spraying, that are available to help curb the spread of disease. In the past, these tools were trusty go-to's – thanks to their efficacy, scalability and cost. Like the antimalarial drugs used to prevent and treat the disease, they’re primarily aimed at protecting individuals. Yet, a new technology called gene drives – which releases and spreads genetically modified mosquitoes that can't transmit the disease – aims to protect whole communities. How might they fit into the toolkit? Dr Damaris Matoka-Muhia of the Kenya Medical Research Institute considers gene drives a potentially sustainable, long-term and cost-effective solution for malaria – especially as resistance dulls other tools. And in Kenya, there are regulations in place to support gene drive implementation. The National Biosafety Authority, already used for GM crops like cotton can be leveraged, ready to roll out this innovation in the future.

Source

How could genetic approaches be integrated in the malaria toolkit?

About The Podcast

The Johns Hopkins Malaria Minute podcast is produced by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute to highlight impactful malaria research and to share it with the global community.

Gene drives are a novel way of genetically editing the mosquitoes that transmit malaria. They have the potential to dramatically reduce cases and deaths. But the technology they’re based on is new and requires new thinking on regulation.

In this first episode of our two-part focus on gene drives, we ask how drives work – examining the CRISPR technology behind them – and explore the hurdles for their release, including the risks, regulations and questions of consent.

With Professor Anthony James (University of California, Irvine) and Dr John Connolly (Target Malaria)

About The Podcast

The Johns Hopkins Malaria Minute is produced by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute to highlight impactful malaria research and to share it with the global community.

Gene drives are a promising tool for malaria control - how can we tell they actually work?

Transcript

Gene drives are a promising new tool for malaria control. They involve releasing genetically modified mosquitoes into the wild – mosquitoes engineered to halt the parasites from developing inside the insects, or that cause the mosquitoes to die. These GM mosquitoes are then released into new habitats. Over time and across multiple generations, the gene drive spreads, reducing malaria transmission. That’s the theory. But one fundamental question remains: how can we tell they actually work? Experts say there are three distinct measures of gene drive efficacy. First, smaller-scale trials of releases should emphasize genetic efficacy, measuring the spread and frequency of the gene drive across time and space. Then, examine entomological efficacy by measuring the density of mosquitoes or the number of parasites they carry. Finally, consider the epidemiological data, by measuring the number of malaria cases in the areas where the gene drive has been released. This approach aims to ensure that the ‘causal pathway’ of gene drives effectively reduces cases and deaths.

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Considerations for first field trials of low-threshold gene drive for malaria vector control

About The Podcast

The Johns Hopkins Malaria Minute podcast is produced by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute to highlight impactful malaria research and to share it with the global community.

Temperature, rainfall, and humidity determine malaria transmission - but climate change is altering each one of those variables. What might this mean for cases of the disease?

With Alex Eapen, from the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) in Chennai, India.

The Johns Hopkins Malaria Minute is produced by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute to highlight impactful malaria research and to share it with the global community.

Researchers compare the temperature of mosquito breeding spots with a decade early to examine its impact on malaria transmission.

Transcript

The effects of climate change on malaria are becoming clearer. Anopheles stephensi – an urban form of the malaria mosquito – is changing its geography, moving from Southeast Asia to parts of Africa and India. To investigate the link between temperature and malaria, between 2021 and 2022 researchers in Chennai, India placed data loggers that recorded temperature – and the daily range of temperature - in both indoor and outdoor settings. They took those measurements and compared them to ten years earlier, from 2012 to 2013. The daily temperature range of indoor asbestos structures increased from 4.3 to 12.6 degrees Celsius — compared to a marginal increase in other structures. Importantly, an increase in temperature was associated with a decrease in the incubation period – that's the time it takes for the parasite to develop in the mosquito. With invasive mosquito species entering new areas, combined with the shorter time it takes to transmit, it's becoming more clear that rising temperatures will lead to an increase in malaria cases in certain areas – and that preparation will be key.

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Impact of climate change on temperature variations and extrinsic incubation period of malaria parasites in Chennai, India: implications for its disease transmission potential

About The Podcast

The Johns Hopkins Malaria Minute podcast is produced by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute to highlight impactful malaria research and to share it with the global community.

A single protein helps malaria parasites develop in the blood and cause disease symptoms. Could inhibiting this essential protein help curb the spread of disease?

With Abhishek Kanyal and Krishanpal Karmodiya.

The Johns Hopkins Malaria Minute is produced by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute to highlight impactful malaria research and to share it with the global community.

A poorly studied malaria protein could serve as a key drug target to help combat the growing problem of resistance.

Transcript

A poorly studied malaria protein – Plasmodium falciparum histone deacetylase 1 – could serve as a key drug target to help combat the growing problem of resistance. The protein helps regulate the ‘intraerythrocytic’ stage of the parasite: a 48-hour cycle in which the parasite invades, replicates, and bursts free from red blood cells, causing disease symptoms. By making this protein fluorescent, researchers found that it is associated with a range of major biological functions that help the parasite progress through this stage, particularly during the ‘trophozoite’ (or mature) stage. When PfHDAC1 was overexpressed, the number of malaria parasites increased – along with the expression of other genes responsible for parasite development. Dihydroartemisinin—a key antimalarial drug—ordinarily interferes with these biological processes, but overexpression of the protein leads to reduced sensitivity and resistance. This research reveals more about the parasite lifecycle in the human body and suggests a new drug target against it.

Source

PfHDAC1 is an essential regulator of P. falciparum asexual proliferation and host cell invasion genes with a dynamic genomic occupancy responsive to artemisinin stress

About The Podcast

The Johns Hopkins Malaria Minute podcast is produced by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute to highlight impactful malaria research and to share it with the global community.