Conversely, inhibiting insulin signaling pathway activity with a PI3K inhibitor reduces P. falciparum infection rates and upregulates immune effector gene expression in the mosquito midgut (Pakpour et al., 2012; Pietri et al., 2015).Based on these findings, we speculate that similar signaling pathways and related molecules may function analogously in ticks during infection with Babesia or other tick-borne viruses. The gene discussed is INS; the disease is infection.