Background

The malaria burden

Each year there are hundred million cases of malaria and around 500.000 deaths majority children.

Malaria is a mosquito borne disease caused by a parasite called Plasmodim, which has its life cycle in mosquitoes and humans.

Limitations of the current malaria control methods

An efficent vaccine against malaria is not yet available and resistences to insecticides and drugs made the nets the main protection system still nowdays.

Symbiotic control strategy

Yeast symbionts can be used as a Trojan horse to deliver anti-plasmodium drugs directly in the gut of vector mosquitoes.

A bio-pesticide based on symbiotic yeasts is able to self-spread across vector mosquitoes.

Drawings by Elisa Conforti (elisa.conf02@gmail.com)