Malaria can alter the behavior of insects that spread it.
Malaria, which sickens more than 200 million people a year, seems to have some mind-altering powers over mosquitoes, too. The parasites that causes malaria, which belong to the genus Plasmodium, spread to humans through mosquito bites. A handful of studies have found that female mosquitoes infected with a certain stage of the parasite are more eager for blood. And conversely, humans infected with malaria seem to emanate signals that attract more mosquitoes.
A new study in Science actually illuminates how the parasite in human blood draws mosquitoes, manipulating the bugs into flying malaria-dispersal machines.
