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Protein 'pill'targets dengue scourge

AFP, Kuala Lumpur
A Malaysian prince is promoting a noble weapon against the worsening scourge of dengue fever: A protein "pill" that starves mosquito larvae and could revolutionise the global dengue fight.
It is a fight that is intensifying: more than 2.5 billion people — around 40 percent of Earth's population — live in areas susceptible to the mosquito-borne virus, with up to 100 million infected annually, according to the World Health Organisation.
Enter Prince Naquiyuddin Jaafar, one of the most popular members of Malaysia's nobility, whose anti-dengue technology targets the offspring of mosquitoes in a bid to win the battle against the virus-spreading pest.
A former diplomat and son of Malaysia's past king, Naquiyuddin, 65, has been involved in a wide range of philanthropic and charitable pursuits, but dengue has been a particularpassion.
Among Naquiyuddin's diverse business activities is the biotech company he founded in 2007,
EntoGenex, which has taken a pre-existing protein called the Trypsin Modulating Oostatic Factor, or TMOF, and developed it into what he calls a fatal "diet pill" for mosquitoes.
TMOF is mixed into yeast cells which are then inserted in rice husks, allowing them to float on water where they will be eaten by mosquito larvae, said Alan Brandt, EntoGenex's researchhead. "Larvae love yeast," headded.
Once consumed, it shuts down mosquito larvae digestive systems, starving them to death before they can grow and spread dengue, Naquiyuddin said as he showed slides and photographs of dead mosquitos at the firm's high-tech research facility in downtown Kuala Lumpur.
"The 'pill' has a 100 percent success rate against all larvae species within 24 hours, and there is no way for resistance to build as it is not a toxic chemical but a protein which only affects mosquitos," Naquiyuddin said.
TMOF is harmless to animals and humans, Brandt said, washing a handful of the rice husks down with a glass of water in his laboratory as proof.
Naquiyuddin's "pill" is now registered for use in Malaysia, Pakistan and the Philippines, while Ghana, South Africa, Cameroon and Sri Lanka are either conducting field trials or seeking approvals to use it.
He hopes it could potentially become a weapon in the even larger fight against malaria, which kills an estimated 650,000 people per year. Dengue kills 20,000 people worldwide every year.