A research team genetically engineered mosquitoes which carry the malaria parasite to produce a lectin protein in their gut when feeding. The lethal protein, CEL-III, found in sea cucumbers, kills the malaria parasites in the mosquito gust and prevent the mosquito from passing on the parasite.

"Ultimately, one aim of our field is to find a way of genetically engineering mosquitoes so that the malaria parasite cannot develop inside them. This study is one more step along the road towards achieving that goal, not least because it has been shown that more than one species of malaria can be killed in this way."

The authors say that although the sea cucumber protein significantly reduces the number of parasites in mosquitoes, it does not totally remove all parasites from all mosquitoes and as such, at this stage of development, would not be effective enough to prevent transmission of malaria to humans.

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