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An experimental bacteria-derived biopesticide is highly effective in killing malaria-carrying mosquitoes, including those that have developed resistance to chemical pesticides, according to initial field tests led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The biopesticide is a powder made from the dead cells of a common soil-dwelling bacterial species.

"This biopesticide has a unique set of features that suggest it could be a powerful new weapon against malaria," says study senior author George Dimopoulos, PhD, deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute in the Bloomberg School's Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology.

The new biopesticide emerged from a project conducted by Dimopoulos and his team in Panama more than a decade ago.

This discovery suggested the bacterium could be the first biopesticide for use against disease-transmitting mosquitoes.