Anopheles gambiae genetics
The ecology and genetics of Anopheles gambiae on islands. (specific 2 year NIH funding, just completed- PI Gregory Lanzaro).
Visit the above URL for more details about specific aims and objectives. As genetic engineering technology rapidly improves the likelihood of releasing genetically engineered Anopheles gambiae that are refractory to malaria parasite, becomes more promising. The most likely geographic situations where such control strategies would be allowed first will be on islands off the coast of Africa where the local Anopheles gambiae populations are small, discreet and isolated from mainland Africa. This project endeavored to study the population structure of small Anopheles gambiae populations in the Bijagos (West Atlantic Africa) and Comoros (East Indian Africa) archipelogos. Collections of mosquitoes have been completed and population genetic analyses are currently being done.