What is the main idea of the news item? [originaltext] The battle against mal

The battle against malaria continues to challenge doctors, scientists, and public health officials. Now, a team of British and American scientists have developed a novel and promising approach to malaria control.
    Malaria kills about a million victims each year, mostly children in Africa, and almost half the world’s population is at risk.
    The malaria parasite is carried from victim to victim by mosquitoes, which are increasingly developing resistance to the insecticides used to kill them.
    As an alternative to chemicals, University of Maryland professor Raymond St. Leger and his colleagues have been working on a genetically-engineered fungus to control malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
    One possibility they considered was using the fungus to kill the mosquito, the way insecticides do. The result is a fungus that kills the parasite directly. And, the genetic modification of the fungus could be adjusted to counter resistance in the malaria parasite as it evolves.
    It may be a couple of years before this modified fungus is approved for use. But it wouldn’ t be the first fungus based product on the market. A similar modified fungus is already in use against locusts in Africa, Australia and China, and at a cost comparable to chemical insecticides.