Scientists found a new way to stop malaria: Let the mosquito live, but kill the parasite inside it

A mosquito does not need to die for its role in malaria transmission to be interrupted. That idea sits at the centre of a 2025 study led by researchers associated with Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who tested a different way of using bed nets: instead of relying entirely on insecticides to kill mosquitoes, the treated material can deliver antiparasitic compounds when mosquitoes come into contact with it. The compounds are designed to act after they enter the mosquito, where they interfere with the development of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible for most human malaria. The approach is particularly relevant as conventional insecticides are losing effectiveness against resistant mosquito populations.Why insecticide-treated bed nets are becoming less effective against malariaLong-lasting insecticide-treated nets have been among the most important tools used against malaria.