Mitts curled all the way up the arms, eyes bulged out of bulbs, beaks chittered and tongues scraped on crabshells. The anticipation built as the fish rounded the first curve. The fish were racing for all they were worth.

And the only care I could offer was egg sandwichs and Lilly's unfaltering attention.

Two additional studies also targeted malaria: an Anopheles densonucleovirus was modified to produce green fluorescent protein within the Anopheles host to demonstrate its potential for delivery of antiplasmodial effectors [21 ]; and the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae, a natural pathogen of mosquitoes, was modified to produce the antiplasmodial peptide SM1 and the antimicrobial scorpine and proved capable of reducing sporozoite counts by 98% [22 ].

But the overall effect is flimsy and insubstantial, a gifted writer punching well below his weight.