Vector Biology

• George Dimopoulos and his group are targeting parasite/vector interactions, with a particular interest in mechanisms of the mosquito's immune system implicated in killing parasites.
  

• Marcelo Jacobs-Lorena's team has developed a genetically-modified mosquito that is impaired for parasite transmission. They are currently investigating the molecular mechanisms by which the malaria parasite moves in the mosquito to allow transmission from one vertebrate host to another. 

• Environmental control is the focus of Douglas Norris and his laboratory colleagues. The group has found differential levels of insecticide resistance in mosquitoes from African villages using differing levels of agricultural insecticides. They are using molecular population genetics to investigate the structure of mosquito populations with the goal of understanding the flow of resistance to insecticides or parasite infection from one population to the next.

• A major research focus of Jason Rasgon's laboratory is the development, evaluation and deployment of micro-organisms to alter Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes' ability to transmit malaria parasites. Ongoing projects include creation of methods of infected mosquitoes with the bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia, and the development of viral agents to shorten mosquito lifespan.