Host-parasite intimacy: how do mosquito defense reactions affect Plasmodium sporogonic development?

Here are a few sundry reflections and questions stimulated by the talks and discussions in session 3 of the Malariology Centenary Conference 1998 on the 'intimacy' that has been established between Plasmodium and Anopheles. The degree of 'intimacy' achieved in a vectorial system seems to correlate to the difficulties incurred when one attempts to interrupt parasite development in the insect host. The main questions addressed in this essay are as follows: Are antimicrobial peptides the most efficient effector molecules to be used to block sporogonic development of malaria parasites? Are the mosquito defense reactions elicited by Plasmodium invasion deleterious, advantageous or neutral to parasite development? The purpose in asking these questions is to put in perspective the direction of research in this area and to generate new ideas.