Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 4, 2026

Laboratory Protocol for Genetic Gut Content Analyses of Aquatic Macroinvertebrates Using Group-specific rDNA Primers
Published on: October 5, 2017
Analysis of arthropod bloodmeals using molecular genetic markers
Wolfgang R Mukabana1, Willem Takken, Bart G J Knols
1Dept of Zoology, University of Nairobi, PO Box 30197, Nairobi, Kenya.
Abstract:
Little is known about the transmission dynamics of human malaria and other vector-borne diseases, partly because of the limited availability and distribution of appropriate tools for quantifying human-mosquito contact rates. Recent developments in molecular biology have allowed a significant increase in the efficacy and reliability of bloodmeal identification, and DNA-based molecular markers are now being harnessed for typing arthropod bloodmeals. The extent to which these markers have been used for analysis of mosquito bloodmeals and the potential they might have for the future is discussed, and the contributions that the advent of PCR has made are examined here.
Related Concept Videos
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Modern Molecular Taxonomy

