Sea Cucumber 'New Malaria Weapon'
The slug-like creature produces a protein, lectin, which impairs development of the parasites.
An international team genetically engineered mosquitoes - which carry the malaria parasite - to produce the same protein in their gut when feeding.
The PLoS Pathogens study found the protein disrupted development of the parasites inside the insects' stomach.
Malaria causes severe illness in 500 million people worldwide each year, and kills more than one million.
It is estimated that 40% of the world's population are at risk of the disease.
To stimulate the mosquitoes to produce lectin, the researchers fused part of the gene from the sea cucumber which produces the protein with a gene from the insect.
The results showed that the technique was effective against several of the parasites which cause malaria.
