Researchers from the
Imperial College London have a new strategy to combat malaria. The species of mosquito responsible for the spread of malaria in Africa,
Anopheles gambiae,
only mates once during its life. Putting a stop to their one shot at reproduction should slow down malaria transmission. Anopheles males deploy a glob of proteins and fluids known as a "mating plug"
that is essential for ensuring sperm is correctly retained in the female's sperm storage organ, from where she can fertilise eggs over the course of her lifetime [BBC News]. Without a mating plug, the sperm is not stored and the mosquitoes can't reproduce.
Simply put, the researchers want to prevent male mosquitoes from plugging in the wild.
Anopheles gambiae is the only known species of mosquito to use a mating plug. (However, mating plugs are found in other animals where they prevent multiple males from reproducing with a female. ...
