Profile of Carolina Barillas-Mury.

Although vector biologist Carolina BarillasMury is annoyed by mosquito bites just as much as anyone else, she has learned to respect the tiny insects. “It’s amazing what they can do,” she says. “They’re like little drones with very simple programs, but they’re able to accomplish remarkable things.” Her words may sound like surprising praise for a malariacarrying species once labeled the world’s deadliest animal (1), but Barillas-Mury respects mosquitoes’ ability to fight off deadly malaria parasites. Driven by a sense of service and a fascination with mosquito physiology, Barillas-Mury, a researcher at the National Institutes of Health and a recently elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, has delved into the mosquito’s gut to uncover the malarial parasite Plasmodium’s methods of invasion, as well as the pathways the mosquito’s immune system employs to fight infection.