In a major turn of event, scientists have come up with a bold new approach to control mosquito populations and combat malaria.
The plan involves adding a drug to human blood that is toxic to mosquitoes.
As per ScienceAlert, when mosquitoes bite humans and consume this blood the drug will poison them, effectively killing them after they feed.
The drug nitisinone, which is already approved for treating certain rare genetic diseases has been found to be deadly to mosquitoes when present in human blood.
A study led by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine found that when mosquitoes fed on the blood of people taking nitisinone for a genetic condition, the mosquitoes died within 12 hours.
Related: UKHSA unveils high-risk disease list to prevent next pandemic
Nitisinone works by blocking a protein in the human body to reduce harmful byproducts, but when mosquitoes consume blood containing the drug, it kills them.
Microbiologist Lee R. Haines from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine said in a statement, noting, "One way to stop the spread of diseases transmitted by insects is to make the blood of animals and humans toxic to these blood-feeding insects.”
He added, "Our findings suggest that using nitisinone could be a promising new complementary tool for controlling insect-borne diseases like malaria."
Malaria still causes over half a million deaths every year and efforts to combat it have been hindered by increasing populations and the disease becoming more resistant to treatments.
With more research, it could be a useful addition to other measures for preventing the spread of malaria without posing a danger to humans or wildlife.
Related: Ozempic new side effect reveals: Popular weight loss drug linked to hair loss
