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Are gut bacteria a potential achilles heel in malaria?

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Intestinal villi. Small finger-like projections that extend into the lumen of the small intestine. Gut bacteria, flora, microbiome. 3d illustration.

Could attacking a new bacterium eradicate malaria?

Researchers at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Uppsala University in Sweden, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen in Germany, and the Veterinärmedizinische Universität in Austria have discovered a new bacterial family that only seems to exist in the gut of disease-carrying mosquitoes (February issue,  International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology).

The researchers named the bacterium after 96-year old Professor Walborg Thorsell, who has spent a lifetime researching mosquitoes and malaria, inventing repellents along the way.

Scientists hope they can target the bacterial species Thorsellia and thus eradicate malaria.

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