Microbe in mosquito can completely stop Malaria 蚊子体内发现阻隔疟疾微生物

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Microbe that blocks malaria

Scientists have discovered a microbe that completely protects mosquitoes from being infected with malaria. The team in Kenya and the UK say the finding has enormous potential to control the disease.

科学家发现了一种能完全帮助蚊子免受疟疾感染的微生物。据肯尼亚和英国的研究小组报道，这一发现对控制这种疾病具有巨大的潜力。

Malaria is spread by the bite of infected mosquitoes, so protecting them could in turn protect people. The researchers are now investigating whether they can release infected mosquitoes into the wild, or use spores to suppress the disease.

疟疾是由已感染的蚊子叮咬人传播的，这意味着防护蚊子感染这个病可以反过来保护人们。研究人员目前正在判断是否能将带有微生物的蚊子释放到野外，或者利用孢子来抑制这种疾病。

What is this microbe? 这是个什么样的微生物？

The malaria-blocking bug, Microsporidia MB, was discovered by studying mosquitoes on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya. It lives in the gut and genitals of the insects. Lab experiments, published in Nature Communications, confirmed the microbe gave the mosquitoes protection. Microsporidias are fungi, or at least closely related to them, and most are parasites.

研究组在肯尼亚维多利亚湖畔通过研究当地的文字发现了一种使蚊子抗疟疾的菌微孢子虫MB。这些菌微孢子虫生活在昆虫的内脏和生殖器里。发表在《自然通讯》上的实验室实验证实，这种微生物可以保护蚊子。小孢子虫是真菌，或至少与它们有密切关系，而且大多数是寄生虫。

“The data we have so far suggest it is 100% blockage, it’s a very severe blockage of malaria,” Dr Jeremy Herren, from the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) in Kenya told the BBC.

肯尼亚国际昆虫生理与生态中心（icipe）的杰里米·赫伦博士对BBC说：“我们目前掌握的数据表明，这是100%的抗击，是抗疟疾非常有效的”。

“It’s a new discovery. We are very excited by its potential for malaria control. It has enormous potential,” Prof Steven Sinkins, from the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, told the BBC.

“这是一个新发现。我们对其控制疟疾的潜力感到非常兴奋。它有巨大的潜力”，来自格拉斯哥MRC大学病毒研究中心的史蒂文·辛金斯教授告诉BBC。

This concept of disease control using microbes is not unprecedented. A type of bacteria called Wolbachia has been shown to make it harder for mosquitoes to spread dengue fever in real-world trials. These approaches are relatively uncontroversial as the species is already found in wild mosquitoes and is not introducing something new. It also would not kill the mosquitoes, so would not have an impact on ecosystems that are dependent on them as food. 

这种利用微生物控制疾病的理念并非史无前例。一种叫做Wolbachia的细菌已经被确认能使蚊子在现实世界中传播登革热更加困难。这些方法相对来说没有争议，因为这种物种已经在野生蚊子中发现，而且没有引入新的东西。它也不会杀死蚊子，因此不会对依赖蚊子作为食物的生态系统产生影响。

Source: AP

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