Achilles heel found for world's most dangerous animal

Weak spot found in the deadly Anopheles mosquito.

The Anopheles mosquito's role in spreading malaria has led it to be considered the world's most dangerous animal.
 
Now, a team of international scientists has drawn up a molecular and anatomical map of the female. The map, which focuses on the creature's sense of smell, could be integral to devising a way of blocking it from seeking out it's next meal, human blood. It is through the mosquito's feeding habits that malaria spreads. Currently 40 per cent of the worlds' population are in danger of exposure to malaria with around 700,000 children dieing every year from the disease.

Maxillary palp

The findings, which are published online in the journal Current Biology, are focused on the sense organ called the maxillary palp. This houses a complicated arrangement of cells that detect octenol, an ingredient of human sweat.
 
"We haven't proven it yet, but the implication is that if you took away the maxillary palp the mosquito would not do nearly as well at finding human prey," commented Tan Lu from Vanderbilt University in the US, one of the authors of the report.
 
"This research... provides a biological context and then strips it down to a few molecular targets that we are using to develop chemical modifiers that should have direct impacts on the mosquito's behaviour," continued Professor Laurence Zwiebel, also from Vanderbilt.

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