The struggle between humanity and the mosquito has been an unequal one. The insect's lethal weapon is malaria, which kills 2.7 million a year and does not have a vaccine. The disease has made some of the poorest economies in the world sick, costing Africa alone a $100bn in the last 30 years. The good news for the health of nations is that scientists have unravelled the gene sequence of both the most virulent malaria parasite and the mosquito that carries it. The bad news is that a man-made jab which can counter the one delivered by the mosquito is still years away. However, the gene maps created will give researchers an insight into how and why the disease works. And in detailing the chemical and genetic processes which give rise to malaria, scientists are presented with targets to launch pharmaceutical attacks at. These might be centred around treatment rather than cure.

New drugs are badly needed. Of the 1,223 new drugs registered between 1975 and 1996, only three were anti-malarials. Many treatments now are being rendered useless by the malaria parasite's growing resistance to them. The World Health Organisation's goal to halve deaths from the disease by 2010 will recede further into the distance unless more money is spent fighting malaria. The pharmaceutical industry ought to play its part here. Given that developing countries are disproportionately affected, there is little point in big drug companies trying to recoup their costs by charging developed-world prices. There is an argument over whether the $300m earmarked for malaria this year would be better spent on insectide-soaked bednets than in laboratories, but no one doubts that extra cash has to be found. Thought needs to be given to how countries which most need investment can absorb funding without wasting it, given that they do not have enough doctors or the right level of health care at present.

Science makes all this possible to contemplate. The chances of genetically engineering mosquitos which would infiltrate wild populations to decimate them or make harmless their fatal bite are getting better all the time. The debate will have to contain words of caution. Medical history shows that only one disease has been totally eradicated: smallpox. Winning the war against malaria, a pandemic killer to rank alongside tuberculosis and Aids, will mean more battles ahead, but victory will be worth it.