Demystifying Plasmodium development within the Anopheles mosquito

Plasmodium malaria parasites undergo multiple developmental transitions within Anopheles mosquitoes before being transmitted to the next host. These lifecycle transitions are challenging to study in vivo because of a substantial bottleneck in parasite numbers and an increase in parasite ploidy that can rescue mutant phenotypes. Increasing our understanding of these essential parasite stages could potentially inform their disruption by novel malaria transmission control tools. Here, we aim to summarize how recent technological developments in microscopy, single-cell RNA sequencing, and genetic screening have revolutionized our study of the mosquito stages of parasite development (sporogony), furthering our knowledge of the enigmatic processes therein.