• Education
    • Higher Education
    • Scholarships & Grants
    • Online Learning
    • School Reforms
    • Research & Innovation
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Fashion & Beauty
    • Home & Living
    • Relationships & Family
  • Technology & Startups
    • Software & Apps
    • Startup Success Stories
    • Startups & Innovations
    • Tech Regulations
    • Venture Capital
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cybersecurity
    • Emerging Technologies
    • Gadgets & Devices
    • Industry Analysis
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy
Today Headline
  • Home
  • World News
    • Us & Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Middle East
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Political Parties
    • Government Policies
    • International Relations
    • Legislative News
  • Business & Finance
    • Market Trends
    • Stock Market
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Corporate News
    • Economic Policies
  • Science & Environment
    • Space Exploration
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife & Conservation
    • Environmental Policies
    • Medical Research
  • Health
    • Public Health
    • Mental Health
    • Medical Breakthroughs
    • Fitness & Nutrition
    • Pandemic Updates
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Tennis
    • Olympics
    • Motorsport
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV & Streaming
    • Celebrity News
    • Awards & Festivals
  • Crime & Justice
    • Court Cases
    • Cybercrime
    • Policing
    • Criminal Investigations
    • Legal Reforms
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • World News
    • Us & Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Middle East
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Political Parties
    • Government Policies
    • International Relations
    • Legislative News
  • Business & Finance
    • Market Trends
    • Stock Market
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Corporate News
    • Economic Policies
  • Science & Environment
    • Space Exploration
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife & Conservation
    • Environmental Policies
    • Medical Research
  • Health
    • Public Health
    • Mental Health
    • Medical Breakthroughs
    • Fitness & Nutrition
    • Pandemic Updates
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Tennis
    • Olympics
    • Motorsport
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV & Streaming
    • Celebrity News
    • Awards & Festivals
  • Crime & Justice
    • Court Cases
    • Cybercrime
    • Policing
    • Criminal Investigations
    • Legal Reforms
No Result
View All Result
Today Headline
No Result
View All Result
Home Science & Environment

Drug For Rare Disease Turns Human Blood Into Mosquito Poison : ScienceAlert todayheadline

March 26, 2025
in Science & Environment
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
0
Glowing mosquito
4
SHARES
9
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


Scientists have a radical new plan for controlling mosquito numbers and fighting malaria: lacing human blood with a drug that’s poisonous for the insects, so sucking on this blood marks their last meal.


The drug in question is nitisinone, and a proof-of-concept study led by a team from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK found that it could be deadly to mosquitoes at a low dose in human blood.


When mosquitoes fed on the blood of three people who were already taking nitisinone to treat a genetic disorder, the insects died within 12 hours.


Nitisinone already has regulatory approval for treating certain rare, inherited diseases. It works by blocking the production of a specific protein, which leads to reduced toxic disease byproducts in the human body. But when mosquitoes drink blood with nitisinone, they quickly die.

Researchers looked at how nitisinone in human blood affected mosquitoes. (Lee R. Haines)

“One way to stop the spread of diseases transmitted by insects is to make the blood of animals and humans toxic to these blood-feeding insects,” says microbiologist Lee R. Haines from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.


“Our findings suggest that using nitisinone could be a promising new complementary tool for controlling insect-borne diseases like malaria.”


The treatment is still very much a proof-of-concept idea, and enthusiasm should be tempered by initial results from other antiparasitic drugs that can kill insects vital to ecosystems, and which may not actually reduce malaria rates.


In previous research, nitisinone does not seem to kill other vital insects that have pollinating roles in ecosystems, but its wider ecological impacts are not well studied, and there’s a chance of insecticide resistance becoming a problem in the future if the mosquito-killing meds are incorporated into “mass drug administration programs”, as the authors of the study suggest.


The researchers tested the effects of nitisinone-filled blood on mosquitoes, as well as using math models to figure out the impact of different doses on simulated human populations. They found the drug was effective at killing mosquitoes of all ages – including the older insects that are more likely to be carrying malaria.


Antiparasitic drugs like this aren’t a new idea, and the team compared nitisinone against ivermectin, which is already used as a potential tool to kill off mosquitoes as they feed.


While ivermectin given to humans or cows can kill mosquitoes at lower concentrations than nitisinone, the new drug acts more quickly, often within a day. It also sticks around in human blood for a longer time, making it more likely that mosquitoes will come into contact with it.


“We thought that if we wanted to go down this route, nitisinone had to perform better than ivermectin,” says parasitologist Álvaro Acosta Serrano from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. “Indeed, nitisinone performance was fantastic.”


“It has a much longer half-life in human blood than ivermectin, which means its mosquitocidal activity remains circulating in the human body for much longer. This is critical when applied in the field for safety and economical reasons.”


Unlike ivermectin, nitisinone does not target the nervous system, so it is less neurotoxic. What’s more, studies indicate that ivermectin kills other insects.


Malaria is still responsible for more than half a million deaths each year, and efforts to tackle it have stalled in the face of growing populations and the disease developing a greater resistance to treatments.


This new approach offers some fresh hope for fighting malaria, and with further research, it could support other steps to stop the spread of the disease – without the risk of harm to humans or other wildlife.


“Nitisinone is a versatile compound that can also be used as an insecticide,” says Acosta Serrano.

The research has been published in Science Translational Medicine.

Tags: MSFT Content
Previous Post

German firm eyes Thursday for Europe’s first commercial orbital launch

Next Post

The Next Black Swan Could Be Hatching in the Oval Office todayheadline

Related Posts

A masculine person meditating on a couch

Meditation And Mindfulness Have a Dark Side We Often Overlook : ScienceAlert todayheadline

June 3, 2025
3

U.S. Space Force awards BAE Systems $1.2 billion contract for missile-tracking satellites

June 3, 2025
1
Next Post

The Next Black Swan Could Be Hatching in the Oval Office todayheadline

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Family calls for change after B.C. nurse dies by suicide after attacks on the job

Family calls for change after B.C. nurse dies by suicide after attacks on the job

April 2, 2025
Pioneering 3D printing project shares successes

Product reduces TPH levels to non-hazardous status

November 27, 2024

Hospital Mergers Fail to Deliver Better Care or Lower Costs, Study Finds todayheadline

December 31, 2024

Police ID man who died after Corso Italia fight

December 23, 2024
Harris tells supporters 'never give up' and urges peaceful transfer of power

Harris tells supporters ‘never give up’ and urges peaceful transfer of power

0
Des Moines Man Accused Of Shooting Ex-Girlfriend's Mother

Des Moines Man Accused Of Shooting Ex-Girlfriend’s Mother

0

Trump ‘looks forward’ to White House meeting with Biden

0
Catholic voters were critical to Donald Trump’s blowout victory: ‘Harris snubbed us’

Catholic voters were critical to Donald Trump’s blowout victory: ‘Harris snubbed us’

0

Oil rises on Iran, Russia and Canada supply concerns

June 3, 2025
Shrubs are taking over the Arctic. Will caribou suffer?

Shrubs are taking over the Arctic. Will caribou suffer?

June 3, 2025
PureHealth drives insurance business growth with Daman’s entry into Property and Casualty insurance market

PureHealth expands Daman into property, casualty insurance

June 3, 2025
A watering can tipping onto stacks of coins with small plants sprouting from the tops.

This ETF Could Turn $500 Per Month Into a $851,000 Portfolio Paying $30,000 in Annual Dividend Income todayheadline

June 3, 2025

Recent News

Oil rises on Iran, Russia and Canada supply concerns

June 3, 2025
0
Shrubs are taking over the Arctic. Will caribou suffer?

Shrubs are taking over the Arctic. Will caribou suffer?

June 3, 2025
2
PureHealth drives insurance business growth with Daman’s entry into Property and Casualty insurance market

PureHealth expands Daman into property, casualty insurance

June 3, 2025
3
A watering can tipping onto stacks of coins with small plants sprouting from the tops.

This ETF Could Turn $500 Per Month Into a $851,000 Portfolio Paying $30,000 in Annual Dividend Income todayheadline

June 3, 2025
5

TodayHeadline is a dynamic news website dedicated to delivering up-to-date and comprehensive news coverage from around the globe.

Follow Us

Browse by Category

  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Basketball
  • Business & Finance
  • Climate Change
  • Crime & Justice
  • Cybersecurity
  • Economic Policies
  • Elections
  • Entertainment
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Environmental Policies
  • Europe
  • Football
  • Gadgets & Devices
  • Health
  • Medical Research
  • Mental Health
  • Middle East
  • Motorsport
  • Olympics
  • Politics
  • Public Health
  • Relationships & Family
  • Science & Environment
  • Software & Apps
  • Space Exploration
  • Sports
  • Stock Market
  • Technology & Startups
  • Tennis
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Us & Canada
  • Wildlife & Conservation
  • World News

Recent News

Oil rises on Iran, Russia and Canada supply concerns

June 3, 2025
Shrubs are taking over the Arctic. Will caribou suffer?

Shrubs are taking over the Arctic. Will caribou suffer?

June 3, 2025
  • Education
  • Lifestyle
  • Technology & Startups
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy

© 2024 Todayheadline.co

Welcome Back!

OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Business & Finance
  • Corporate News
  • Economic Policies
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Market Trends
  • Crime & Justice
  • Court Cases
  • Criminal Investigations
  • Cybercrime
  • Legal Reforms
  • Policing
  • Education
  • Higher Education
  • Online Learning
  • Entertainment
  • Awards & Festivals
  • Celebrity News
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Health
  • Fitness & Nutrition
  • Medical Breakthroughs
  • Mental Health
  • Pandemic Updates
  • Lifestyle
  • Fashion & Beauty
  • Food & Drink
  • Home & Living
  • Politics
  • Elections
  • Government Policies
  • International Relations
  • Legislative News
  • Political Parties
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Middle East
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Cybersecurity
  • Emerging Technologies
  • Gadgets & Devices
  • Industry Analysis
  • Basketball
  • Football
  • Motorsport
  • Olympics
  • Climate Change
  • Environmental Policies
  • Medical Research
  • Science & Environment
  • Space Exploration
  • Wildlife & Conservation
  • Sports
  • Tennis
  • Technology & Startups
  • Software & Apps
  • Startup Success Stories
  • Startups & Innovations
  • Tech Regulations
  • Venture Capital
  • Uncategorized
  • World News
  • Us & Canada
  • Public Health
  • Relationships & Family
  • Travel
  • Research & Innovation
  • Scholarships & Grants
  • School Reforms
  • Stock Market
  • TV & Streaming
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy
  • About us
  • Contact

© 2024 Todayheadline.co