Overview

• Researchers sequenced 656 modern and 45 museum Anopheles funestus specimens from 16 African countries, publishing the findings in Science.
• Genomes reveal a widely connected equatorial population spanning roughly 4,000 kilometers alongside isolated, genetically distinct pockets in places such as North Ghana and South Benin.
• Comparisons with historic samples show many insecticide-resistance variants arose recently, including two independent Gste2 mutations linked to DDT resistance absent before 1967.
• A conserved doublesex gene region indicates a gene-drive strategy developed for Anopheles gambiae could potentially be adapted to An. funestus, according to the authors.
• The full dataset is now available through the MalariaGEN Vector Observatory to support analysis and guide targeted vector-control strategies.