Crazy Science: A Drug That Turns Blood Toxic to Mosquitoes

A New Way to Fight Mosquitoes with Medicine

Can the drug that turns blood toxic to mosquitoes stop malaria for good?

Scientists are exploring an exciting idea that could change how we fight diseases like malaria. This isn’t science fiction; it’s a real discovery that’s making people talk.

What if a drug already used for something else could also stop mosquitoes in their tracks? Keep reading to find out how this works and why it matters.

Nitisinone: The Drug That Turns Blood Toxic to Mosquitoes

There’s a medicine called nitisinone that doctors use to help people with rare conditions like alkaptonuria and tyrosinemia type 1.

These are health problems where the body can’t break down a certain protein building block called tyrosine.

Nitisinone helps by stopping an enzyme that causes trouble in these patients. But here’s the surprising part: this same drug can do something amazing when mosquitoes drink blood from someone who’s taken it.

The mosquitoes don’t just get sick—they die.

Researchers, including a team from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, tested this idea. They took blood from people already using nitisinone and fed it to mosquitoes.

Within hours, the insects couldn’t fly anymore and soon died. Why? The drug blocks the same enzyme in mosquitoes that they need to digest blood.

Without it, their bodies shut down. This discovery could be a game-changer for places where mosquitoes spread deadly diseases.

Fighting Malaria with a New Tool

Malaria is a big problem around the world, killing over half a million people every year. It’s caused by a parasite that mosquitoes carry from person to person.

For a long time, people have used things like bed nets and sprays to keep mosquitoes away. There’s also a drug called ivermectin that makes human blood toxic to mosquitoes, but it has downsides.

It doesn’t last long in the body, and some worry it could harm other insects or lead to resistance if used too much.

Nitisinone might be a better option. Studies show it stays in the blood longer than ivermectin, so it keeps killing mosquitoes for a while after someone takes it.

Plus, it works against older mosquitoes—the ones most likely to carry malaria—and even those that don’t die from regular bug sprays.

This could make it a powerful tool to lower the number of mosquitoes and cut down on malaria cases, especially in areas where other methods aren’t working as well anymore.

What’s Next for This Discovery?

This idea is still new, and scientists need to do more tests to make sure it’s safe and works in real life, not just in labs.

They want to know if giving nitisinone to lots of people could really stop malaria from spreading. There are also questions about cost—right now, the drug is expensive because it’s only used for rare diseases.

If it gets used more, the price might drop, making it easier to get to places that need it most.

Another thing to think about is how to use it smartly. Maybe it could be given with other malaria medicines or even to animals that mosquitoes bite.

But researchers are careful. They don’t want mosquitoes to get used to it and stop dying, like they’ve done with some bug sprays.

For now, it’s a hopeful step forward, and with more work, it could help save lives.

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