Mosquitoes can provide new knowledge of defense against viruses

Studies on the mosquitoes and flies defense against viruses and parasites may be important lessons to come. Climate change makes the mosquito-borne diseases can be spread over larger areas. At the Nobel laureate Jules Hoffman Institute in Strasbourg, France, the researchers argue with each other on exciting new results that you are trying to interpret.

- My colleague is working with an antiviral defense in flies. They have some exciting new results that we now must try to understand and follow up, says one of this year's Nobel laureates in medicine Jules Hoffman.

He has just been informed by Mr Jean-Luc Imler on the results of how fruit flies defend themselves against viruses.

Here at the institute is now also malarial mosquitoes important study. I get to see genetically modified mosquito larvae that have been made ​​luminous, so that it becomes easier to follow how they react in a microscope. All with the aim to understand how mosquitoes immune system manages malaria parasite, the one that makes so many people sick.

Jean-Luc Imler now want to combine knowledge from malarial mosquitoes with the flies and viruses.

- Mosquitoes spread not only parasites, but also viruses such as dengue, chikungunja and westnile fever. Diseases that threaten to become more common also in our countries and with global warming, says researcher Jean-Luc Imler.

Reporter Björn Web bjorn.guner @ sr.se