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Stop Zika? Learn More about the Mosquito Immune System

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Before a mosquito can transmit a disease like dengue fever, Zika, or malaria to a human, the mosquito itself must get infected. That means the parasite or virus must find a way around the natural defenses of the insect’s immune system.


But what if we could manipulate mosquitoes so that they could effectively fight off an infection before transmitting disease, or if they could resist becoming infected altogether?

These questions are at the heart of the research of Penn’s Michael Povelones. An assistant professor in Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine, Povelones investigates the mosquito immune system for clues as to how those defenses may be targeted to control diseases that mosquitoes spread—infections such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, and Zika, which claim the lives of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide each year.
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Academic
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