Johns Hopkins Finds 36 New Antimicrobial Peptide Candidates in the Malaria Mosquito, Two of Which Cut Parasite Viability by About 75% to 81%
A Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health team reported in npj Antimicrobials and Resistance on October 13, 2026 a genome survey of Anopheles gambiae, the main African malaria mosquito, that identified 36 previously uncharacterized antimicrobial peptide candidates. Lab-made versions of four, named Anolarvin, Konopsin, Sialicin, and Cryptophelin, killed or stopped a broad range of microbes, and the two found mainly in salivary glands, Sialicin and Cryptophelin, reduced the viability of Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites, the parasite stage mosquitoes inject, by about 81% and 75% in lab tests. The authors see them as leads for blocking malaria transmission.