MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London
Science for Health
New mosquito insectary at NIMR
20 July 2012
A new insectary has been built at NIMR to provide a platform for breeding and preparing mosquitoes for studying rodent malaria, used as a model for human infection.
The insectary is a designated area for the rearing of insects and initiating malaria infections in mosquitoes and is part of Jean Langhorne’s laboratory in the Division of Parasitology. The facility was designed and built by NIMR’s Building Services department, led by Guy Hallifax and assisted by Bill Jarra from the Langhorne lab.
The insectary is managed by Irene Tumwine and contains:
- state-of-the-art temperature and humidity controlled breeding cabinets
- incubators for parasite development within the mosquito
- a microscopy area for mosquito dissections and analysis
With the support of Robert Sinden’s group at Imperial College, Irene Tumwine (pictured) and Bill Jarra have established a colony of Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes in the area, consisting of approximately 20,000 adult mosquitoes. This species is an important vector for experimental malaria in both rodents and human. The insectary will provide an exciting opportunity to increase the number of experimental mosquito transmissions, aiding laboratory research here to mimic more closely conditions in the field.
In the past we have studied blood-stage infections by injecting mice directly with malaria-infected red blood cells, missing out the stages that are transmitted by the mosquito. However, we observed significant clinical, immunological and parasitological differences between direct-blood and mosquito-transmitted malaria parasites. To make the mouse model as relevant as possible for mosquito-transmitted human malaria, it is important that we replicate this natural route of infection in our mouse models.
Jean Langhorne
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A view of the insectary interior.
Irene Tumwine using the microscope.
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The mosquitoes.
History
This is not the first insectary to be built at NIMR. When the Institute first moved to Mill Hill in 1950 an “insectarium” was built. It was state of the art facility with cork-insulated walls, double-glazing in the insect rooms, built-in humidifiers and temperature control. Initially it was used for Frank Hawking’s research into filariasis, housing Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and Liponyssus bacoti mites. Later on Anopheles mosquitoes were bred for malaria studies and, at various times, Glossina (tsetse flies) for trypanosomiasis and various ticks for studies on bite reaction and filaria transmission. The unit remained as an insectarium for about twenty years, until the filariasis programme ended.
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The insectarium built in 1950.
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