On Nov. 27, 2014, two papers were published in Science that announced the completion and preliminary analyses of the genomic sequences of 16 species of mosquitoes (Anopheles gambiae), including those that are vectors for the malaria parasite.

The sequences, which are around 200 million base pairs each, revealed that mosquitoes are rapidly evolving, exhibiting high degrees of gene gains, losses, shuffling, and even transmission between closely related species. Dr. Nora Besansky, a malaria vector researcher at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, led the sequencing effort.