Question of the Week

Could mosquito gut bugs protect humans?

Can you ask if the people working with mosquitoes (the news story Kat covered earlier) had considered using the bacteria in their guts to develop a protection for humans or whatever? Keith in Norwich

We put this to Kat Arney:

Kat - It is an interesting question.  I think this works to a very early stage.  The protection from the bacteria for the mosquitoes is really due to their immune system rather than anything special about the bacteria themselves as far as I know at the moment.  So it’s certainly an interesting question and I don’t think it would work if it infected humans with bacteria either but certainly an interesting question, thanks Keith.

May 2009