understanding - Malaria

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I of IV :: plasmodium life cycle

The natural history of malaria involves cyclical infection of humans and female Anopheles mosquitoes. In humans, the parasites grow and multiply first in the liver cells and then in the red cells of the blood.

In the blood, successive broods of parasites grow inside the red cells and destroy them, releasing daughter parasites (“merozoites”) that continue the cycle by invading other red cells.

II of IV :: ARTIMISININ DISCOVERY:

Prof. Tu Youyou Tu was awarded the prize for discovering 'Artemisinin', (from sweet wormwood) a drug that has helped significantly reduce the mortality rates of malaria patients. Tu Youyou is typically described in China as a "modest" woman. Her work was published anonymously in 1977, and for decades she received little recognition for her research with Mission 523.






III of IV :: DRUG RESISTANCE:

Learn how DNA sequencing technologies are being used to better understand drug resistant malaria parasites, and to track and contain them before they spread.

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IV of IV :: end malaria - gene drive?

The invention of the CRISPR gene editing tool has injected new life into a line of research called gene drive. Gene drives use selfish genetic elements to spread a modification through a wild population.

Researchers have proposed using gene drives against agricultural pests and invasive species, but the most urgent application is against vector-borne diseases like malaria, which kills hundreds of thousands of people every year, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.

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