Scientists Develop Malaria Interventions Using Lasers, Other Technologies

Scientists at a laboratory in Bellevue, Wash., recently developed a device that uses lasers to kill mosquitoes in an effort to combat malaria, the Wall Street Journal reports. Many of the researchers who developed the technology previously worked on former President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, which aimed to use lasers to protect the U.S. from an offensive by the former Soviet Union. Although the government never implemented the strategy, scientists resurrected the technology after Bill Gates of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation asked Nathan Myhrvold, head of Intellectual Ventures and former Microsoft executive, to explore new ways to address malaria. In 2007, Lowell Wood, an astrophysicist who worked on Reagan's laser defense plan, suggested that similar technology could target the mosquitoes that transmit malaria. The scientists killed their first mosquito using a hand-held laser in early 2008 (Guth, Wall Street Journal, 3/14). According to London's Sunday Times, the Gates Foundation contributed funding for the project (Allen-Mills, Sunday Times, 3/15).

The laser device, called the "Weapon of Mosquito Destruction," works by detecting the audio frequency created by a mosquito's beating wings. A computer then triggers a laser, which burns the wings off the mosquito and kills it (Jamieson, Daily Telegraph, 3/16). According to the researchers, the technology could be used to create a laser barrier around a house or village that could kill or blind mosquitoes. Alternatively, a laser-equipped unmanned aircraft could track the mosquitoes by radar and then kill them with lasers. The researchers also said the device could differentiate between male and female mosquitoes through wing beats, which could prove particularly useful because only female mosquitoes transmit malaria. Myhrvold said, "If you really were a purist, you could only kill the females, not the males." However, he added that because all of the insects are mosquitoes, the project likely will aim to "just slay them all."

According to the Journal, the next step will be for the researchers to determine the strength of the lasers to ensure that they will kill mosquitoes without harming humans or useful insects. Myhrvold said the device potentially "could kill billions of mosquitoes a night, and you could do so without harming butterflies." Jordin Kare, an astrophysicist who helped develop the laser and former scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, said researchers would "be delighted if we destabilize the human-mosquito balance of power." According to Kare, when the scientists worked on Reagan's laser defense plan, they believed they "made some contribution to the ending of the Cold War." However, by shifting their target to malaria, the researchers are "trying to make a dent in a war that's actually gone on a lot longer and claimed a lot more lives," Kare said.

The Journal also discussed several other projects to address malaria using unconventional techniques, such as microwaves, rancid odors, poisoned blood and other devices that target the insect's senses. Szabolcs Marka, a black hole specialist from Columbia University, said he has a grant to develop a "mosquito flashlight" that would blind mosquitoes by targeting their eye-like sensors. According to the Journal, current research projects also involve developing bacteria designed to kill mosquitoes and creating malaria-free mosquitoes genetically modified to overtake the species. In addition, a Japanese researcher plans to develop a strategy to transform mosquitoes into "flying syringes" that can transmit vaccines, the Journal reports (Wall Street Journal, 3/14).