Moreira Luciano A, Ghosh Anil K, Abraham Eappen G, Jacobs-Lorena Marcelo
Case Western Reserve University, Department of Genetics, Cleveland, OH 44106-4955, USA.
Int J Parasitol. 2002 Dec 4;32(13):1599-605. doi: 10.1016/s0020-7519(02)00188-1.
Malaria inflicts an enormous toll in human lives and this burden is increasing. Present means to fight the disease, such as drugs and insecticides, are insufficient. Moreover, an effective vaccine has not yet been developed. This review examines an alternative strategy for malaria control, namely the genetic modification of mosquitoes to make them inefficient vectors for the parasite. The article summarises progress made toward the development of transposable element vectors for germ line transformation and the search for mosquito markers of transformation. Also reviewed is the search for anti-malarial effector genes whose products can inhibit development of the parasite in the mosquito with minimal fitness burden. While much progress has been made, much work remains to be done. Future research directions are discussed.
疟疾给人类生命造成了巨大损失，而且这种负担还在不断加重。目前抗击该疾病的手段，如药物和杀虫剂，并不充分。此外，尚未研发出有效的疫苗。本综述探讨了一种控制疟疾的替代策略，即对蚊子进行基因改造，使其成为低效的疟原虫传播媒介。文章总结了在开发用于生殖系转化的转座子载体以及寻找蚊子转化标记方面取得的进展。还回顾了对抗疟效应基因的研究，这些基因的产物能够以最小的适应性负担抑制疟原虫在蚊子体内的发育。虽然已经取得了很大进展，但仍有许多工作要做。文中讨论了未来的研究方向。
