DiscoverThe Mosquito Minute, from the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute
The Mosquito Minute, from the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute
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The Mosquito Minute, from the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute

Author: The Naked Scientists

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Animals don't come much more dangerous than the mosquito, so jump aboard to hear why, and what new research is revealing about ways to stop the world's greatest disease threat
9 Episodes
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When we think of mosquitoes, we think of heat. Of tropical Africa. Of standing water. Of humid nights. We don't think of the Arctic. But we should. The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the planet, and mosquitoes are responding. So could warming northern regions become the next frontier for mosquito-borne disease? Amanda Koltz at the University of Austin at Texas has been speaking with Chris Smith... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Malaria kills around 600,000 people every year. Nearly three-quarters of those deaths are children under five. For decades, scientists pursued one goal: a vaccine that could prevent the disease. One scientist dedicated his career to this challenge. Sir Adrian Hill of the University of Oxford set out to develop a vaccine that could save lives where it was needed most... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
As drug resistance continues to undermine malaria control efforts, there is an urgent need for novel therapeutics and strategies capable of preventing infections at the earliest stages. In response, Australian researchers have developed a new antimalarial drug that targets the stage when the Plasmodium parasite transitions from liver cells, where it initially proliferates, into the bloodstream. A preclinical study published in Science describes a novel immunisation strategy that combines mosquito-delivered malaria parasites with an investigational class of antimalarial drug compounds.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Malaria has been killing humans for at least fifteen thousand years, and our DNA still carries the scars. Ninety percent of the world's malaria cases are in Africa. But this isn't just a modern health crisis. It's written into our evolutionary history. New research from the University of Cambridge reveals that early humans actively avoided malaria hotspots across Africa for tens of thousands of years. The archaeological record is striking: mosquitoes thrived where people didn't live. Until something changed. Around fifteen thousand years ago, a genetic mutation emerged in West Africa: the... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
For more than a century, malaria control has relied on one central strategy, controlling the mosquito itself. Vector control is the use of tools to reduce contact between humans and malaria-carrying mosquitoes. This remains one of the most effective ways to prevent transmission. Speaking with Chris Smith, Sonia Shah is the author of The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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