A transposon is a mobile piece of DNA scientists use to put genes into an insect.Transposons are essentially DNA parasites that move in or out of the genome under the right circumstances.

The system proposed at UC-Davis is a transposon that gives an advantage to mosquitoes already carrying genes to block malaria, so those genes spread through the population by natural selection, the university said.

Postdoctoral researcher Matthew Hahn and Sergey Nuzhdin, a professor of evolution and ecology at UC-Davis, say under current methods the malaria resistance genes available are not effective. And there's no way to reliably push the genes through the population.

The genetic engineering work involved in their proposal is challenging, but should be possible, Hahn said.