Entomologist Simon Blanford attaches a spray nozzle onto the top of a jar of white-powdered fungus immersed in a concoction of mineral oils. He leans forward into a fume hood and applies an even coating of fungal spores onto cut-up strips of disposable coffee cups taped against the back wall.
The next morning, after the sopping wet strips have dried, Blanford, a senior research associate at Pennsylvania State University in State College, will return to put the cups back together. Then he’ll toss in a load of young Anopheles mosquitoes that have just eaten a malaria-ridden blood meal, cover the cups with a mesh lining, and wait. One week later, the vast majority of the mosquitoes will die, victims of the fungus that rubbed off on their bodies from the coated cups. At least, Blanford wants it to be 1 week later, which is just short enough to prevent the ...
