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Rearing anopheles mosquitoes without blood for malaria research and control

Principal Investigator: Dr Brian B. Tarimo

Project leader/ Coordinator: Faith Mosi

Project Administrator: Ritha Kidyala; Ester Giteta

Funding Partner: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Lisboa, Portugal

Start date: Jan. 1, 2022

End date: Dec. 31, 2024

Rearing anopheles mosquitoes without blood for malaria research and control

Rearing anopheles mosquitoes without blood for malaria research and control

This study which will also be known as “MosqDiet”, intends to investigate a novel way for rearing Anopheles mosquitoes that will ensure the mass production of these mosquitoes for various research activities within the institute.

The primary objective of the study is to:

  1. Optimize a blood-free meal that sustains multiple generations of mosquitoes without loss of fitness relative to colonies maintained on fresh blood.
  2. Test the use and sustainability of the blood-free meal to rear different Anopheles spp. and their applicability in various African contexts.
  3. Prove blood-free system adequacy for sustainable experimental infection with Plasmodium spp.
  4. Consolidate a network of insectaries able to develop and implement research on malaria transmission.

Mosquito rearing in captivity is a major bottleneck and is highly dependent on successfully replicating the mosquito lifecycle, and subsequent use of high blood quantities. The use of blood constitutes a strong drawback due to ethical, financial and logistic issues and therefore, new approaches for blood-free-meals that are cheap and of simple and reproducible formulation are a priority to accelerate progress toward malaria eradication.

The study will be conducted in Bagamoyo for a duration of 2 years from January 2022 to December 2024.
Ifakara researchers involved in the study include:

  1. Dr Brian B. Tarimo – Principal investigator
  2. Faith Mosi – Project leader

The project will also involve three other institutions – two from Africa and one from Europe:

  1. Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Portugal (IHMT-NOVA);
  2. National Institute of Health Mozambique (INS)Gomes;
  3. Institut Recherche en Sciences de la Sante/Centre Muraz, Burkina Faso (IRSS/CM).

Support and funding: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Lisboa, Portugal.