(CNN) Researchers have developed a new weapon in the fight against malaria -- a fungus genetically engineered using a gene found in the venom of an Australian spider.

Trials in Burkina Faso -- a country with a high prevalence of malaria -- found that a fungus, enhanced by the gene of the Australian Blue Mountains funnel web spider, killed large numbers of malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

During the trials, researchers reported a 99% collapse in mosquito populations.

Researchers from the University of Maryland and the Research Institute of Health Sciences in Burkina Faso genetically modified Metarhizium pingshaense, a fungus that is naturally fatal to mosquitoes, to increase its lethality.

The fungus was enhanced by a toxic found in the venom of funnel-web spiders.

The trials, which took place in a purpose-built habitat surrounded by mosquito netting, found that mosquitoes exposed to the toxin died faster than both unexposed insects and those exposed to the naturally occurring fungus.

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