Scientific American

Ever wondered why mosquitoes eat some people up but leave others relatively unscathed? A new study finds that this preferential treatment is due to the smells produced by the microscopic critters that cover our bodies. The research is in the journal Public Library of Science ONE . [Niels O. Verhulst et al., " Composition of Human Skin Microbiota Affects Attractiveness to Malaria Mosquitoes "]

DURBAN, South Africa--Former entomologist Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum of the World Health Organization worries about nosebleeds more than the average person. That's because he's one of the estimated 12 million people worldwide afflicted with leishmaniasis --a potentially fatal parasitic disease characterized most often by lesions on the skin and/or mucus membranes--caused by the bite of a sandfly.

"In 1983, when I went to Haiti, the wave of sentiment that crashed over me was not just, gosh, this is appalling--it’s unfair."

The price of gold affects more than global finances; it also drives the world's most toxic pollution problem, according to new research from the Blacksmith Institute , an environmental health group based in New York City. Miners in countries from across Africa and Southeast Asia use mercury to separate the precious metal from the surrounding rock and silt. To then separate the resulting amalgam of gold and mercury, heat must be applied to vaporize the mercury. Typically, heating occurs over an open gas flame, releasing the potent neurotoxic element into the atmosphere. What's more, the estimated 10 million to 20 million workers who mine for gold this way will all too often inhale the mercury, putting their health at profound risk.

In the November 2011 issue of Scientific American, author Bijal Trivedi looks at the ongoing controversies surrounding the use of genetically modified mosquitoes to fight dengue fever. We asked biologist Mark Q. Benedict and Helen Wallace, the director of GeneWatch UK , to illuminate the issues surrounding the release of genetically modified insects into the wild.

Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Could Be an Important Tool in the Fight against Disease [More]

Outside Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico--10 miles from Guatemala. To reach the cages, we follow the main highway out of town, driving past soy, cocoa, banana and lustrous dark-green mango plantations thriving in the rich volcanic soil. Past the tiny village of Rio Florido the road degenerates into an undulating dirt tract. We bump along on waves of baked mud until we reach a security checkpoint, guard at the ready. A sign posted on the barbed wire–enclosed compound pictures a mosquito flanked by a man and woman: Estos mosquitos genéticamente modificados requieren un manejo especial , it reads. We play by the rules.

This graphic originally appeared with the article " Halting the World's Most Lethal Parasite ," in the November 2010 issue of Scientific American . We are posting it as background for today's announcement of good success in a phase III trial using a traditional vaccine by GlaxoSmithKline. Scroll down to see the illustration.

For decades the public health community has tried to devise a vaccine that would confer lifetime immunity against the malaria parasite and help stamp out disease. Yet the effort has always been an exercise in frustration. The complex life cycle of the parasite makes it challenging to know the best way to create an effective vaccine. But the advent of new funding and a spate of innovative ideas have changed the out­look dramatically in recent years. For the first time, a vaccine has reached late-stage clinical trials, and dozens of other ideas are in the early development stage. Three different approaches appear here.