The scientists put a new "resistance" gene into the mosquito's own DNA, using a gene editing method called Crispr, according to BBC online.
And when the GM mosquitoes mated – their offspring inherited the same resistance, PNAS journal reports.
About 3.2 billion people – almost half of the world's population – are at risk of malaria. Bed nets, insecticides and repellents can help stop the insects biting and drugs can be given to anyone who catches the infection, but the disease still kills around 580,000 people a year.
The University of California team believe their GM mosquito could play a pivotal role – breeding resistant offspring to replace endemic, malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
They took a type of mosquito found in India – Anopheles stephensi – on which to experiment. Dr Anthony James and his team showed that they could give the insect new DNA code to make it a poor host for the Plasmodium parasites that cause malaria.
