Today in History

August 27, 1900
One small bite for man…
According to the Library of Congress, August 27, 1900 is the day that U.S. Army physician James Carroll is bitten by a yellow fever-carrying mosquito. The bite is noteworthy because he lets it happen on purpose, as part of an experiment led by Army pathologist Walter Reed to study yellow fever transmission. Carroll does indeed fall ill, helping prove that mosquitoes transmit the disease. Although a vaccine is developed in the 1930s, the disease continues to kill thousands each year in unvaccinated populations.



Today's Feature History Article

Can Mosquitoes Fight Malaria?

Scientists can build a mosquito that resists infection, but getting the insects to pass along the gene is a harder task




 



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