A novel anti-inflammatory drug could help to improve survival in the most severe cases of malaria by preventing the immune system from causing irrevocable brain and tissue damage.

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have succeeded in engineering algae to produce potential candidates for a vaccine that would prevent transmission of the parasite that causes malaria, an achievement that could pave the way for the development of an inexpensive way to protect billions of people from one of the world's most prevalent and debilitating diseases.

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have revealed their progress in engineering algae for a vaccine that could possibly counter transmission of the parasite that causes malaria.

Last year it killed an estimated 655,000 people. Now researchers are developing new ways to block the transmission of Plasmodium, the parasite responsible for human malaria.

Over 200 million people contract malaria each year, and according to the World Health Organization, an estimated 655,000 people died from malaria in 2010.