Skip to main content

Bright light pulses bamboozle mosquitoes, could help fight malaria

flashing light mosquitoes malaria tiger mosquito
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Researchers at the University of Notre Dame have made a potentially significant breakthrough in the battle against malaria by discovering a way to suppress mosquitoes’ natural biting behavior. The secret weapon? Exposure to just 10 minutes of pulsing white light during nighttime.

In a study involving the malaria-carrying Anopheles gambiae mosquito, the scientists tested mosquitoes’ biting preferences in different conditions by separating them into two groups. One group was kept entirely in the dark, while another received the pulses of light. Those mosquitoes which had received the light dosage showed “significant suppression” in terms of their biting.

Recommended Videos

In another experiment, the mosquitoes were pulsed with light every two hours, which minimized their biting through a large portion of a 12-hour night period.

“Anopheline mosquitoes are mostly nocturnal and bite at night, and Anopheles gambiae is the major vector for the transmission of the human malaria parasite in Africa,” Dr. Giles Duffield, associate professor of biology at the University of Notre Dame, told Digital Trends. “It is the bite of a female Anopheles gambiae mosquito that can transmit the malaria parasite. We examined the effect of light on both the biting behavior and flight activity of mosquitoes. We discovered that discrete treatments of light could suppress biting behavior when assayed on a human subject, specifically exposure of a container of mosquitoes to a human arm. This inhibition effect was observed during the light exposure, immediately afterwards, and several hours after the treatment.”

Sarah Craig, University of Notre Dame
Sarah Craig, University of Notre Dame

As Duffield noted, flight activity was also affected in the mosquitoes — with those which received the light pulses appearing less interested in flying at the onset of the night.

The work is still at a relatively early stage. Duffield said that more work is still to be done, in order to discover exactly what the mosquitoes are reacting to. “Determining the optimal dose of light is important, which can be accomplished by testing different durations and intensities of light exposure; as well as examining the different wavelengths of light,” he said. “The aim would be to find a wavelength of light that is optimal at suppressing biting, while also being less disturbing to the human who may be sleeping.”

Long-term, he suggested that some kind of light-based tool could be used as a mosquito bite prevention measure, presumably in conjunction with some of the other innovative technologies being used in the battle against malaria.

A paper describing the work was recently published in the journal Parasites and Vectors.

Luke Dormehl
Former Digital Trends Contributor
I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…
The UK’s Wayve brings its AI automated driving software to U.S. shores
wayve ai automated driving us driver assist2 1920x1152 1

It might seem that the autonomous driving trend is moving at full speed and on its own accord, especially if you live in California.Wayve, a UK startup that has received over $1 billion in funding, is now joining the crowded party by launching on-road testing of its AI learning system on the streets of San Francisco and the Bay Area.The announcement comes just weeks after Tesla unveiled its Robotaxi at the Warner Bros Studios in Burbank, California. It was also in San Francisco that an accident last year forced General Motors’ robotaxi service Cruise to stop its operations. And it’s mostly in California that Waymo, the only functioning robotaxi service in the U.S., first deployed its fleet of self-driving cars. As part of its move, Wayve opened a new office in Silicon Valley to support its U.S. expansion and AI development. Similarly to Tesla’s Full-Self Driving (FSD) software, the company says it’s using AI to provide automakers with a full range of driver assistance and automation features.“We are now testing our AI software in real-world environments across two continents,” said Alex Kendall, Wayve co-founder and CEO.The company has already conducted tests on UK roads since 2018. It received a huge boost earlier this year when it raised over $1 billion in a move led by Softbank and joined by Microsoft and Nvidia. In August, Uber also said it would invest to help the development of Wayve’s technology.Just like Tesla’s FSD, Wayve’s software provides an advanced driver assistance system that still requires driver supervision.Before driverless vehicles can legally hit the road, they must first pass strict safety tests.So far, Waymo’s technology, which relies on pre-mapped roads, sensors, cameras, radar, and lidar (a laser-light radar), is the only of its kind to have received the nod from U.S. regulators.

Read more
Aptera’s 3-wheel solar EV hits milestone on way toward 2025 commercialization
Aptera 2e

EV drivers may relish that charging networks are climbing over each other to provide needed juice alongside roads and highways.

But they may relish even more not having to make many recharging stops along the way as their EV soaks up the bountiful energy coming straight from the sun.

Read more
Ford ships new NACS adapters to EV customers
Ford EVs at a Tesla Supercharger station.

Thanks to a Tesla-provided adapter, owners of Ford electric vehicles were among the first non-Tesla drivers to get access to the SuperCharger network in the U.S.

Yet, amid slowing supply from Tesla, Ford is now turning to Lectron, an EV accessories supplier, to provide these North American Charging Standard (NACS) adapters, according to InsideEVs.

Read more