Latest Plasmodium Stories

Because the protein is found in the parasite but not in humans, it is ideal target for an anti-malarial drug A biology lab at Washington University has just cracked the structure and function of a protein that plays a key role in the life of a parasite that killed 655,000 people in 2010. The protein is an enzyme that Plasmodium falciparum, the protozoan that causes the most lethal form of malaria, uses to make cell membrane. The protozoan cannot survive without this enzyme, but even...

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute have demonstrated that the Anopheles mosquito's innate immune system could be genetically engineered to block the transmission of malaria-causing parasites to humans. In addition, they showed that the genetic modification had limited impact on the mosquito's fitness under laboratory conditions. The researchers' findings are published December 22nd in the Open Access journal PLoS Pathogens. In this study, Dimopoulos and his team...

Climate differences have less impact on the transmission of blood parasites than expected Seabirds often live in large colonies in very confined spaces. Parasites, such as fleas and ticks, take advantage of this ideal habitat with its rich supply of nutrition. As a result, they can transmit blood parasites like avian malaria to the birds. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell and a team of international colleagues have investigated whether this affects all...

An antimalarial agent developed by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University proved effective at clearing infections caused by the malaria parasite most lethal to humans – by literally starving the parasites to death. The novel research, carried out on a small number of non-human primates, could bolster efforts to develop more potent therapies against one of the world's leading killers. The study, published in the November 11, 2011 issue of PLoS ONE, was led...

Finding has implications for effectiveness of potential vaccines A mutation on the surface of human red blood cells provides protection against malaria caused by the parasite Plasmodium vivax, research led by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine shows. The minute change, at a single position of red blood cell surface protein called the Duffy blood-group antigen, has been known for years. But the researchers found this difference makes it harder for the parasite to lock...

Study identifies new ways to kill the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum An international team of scientists has announced a breakthrough in the fight against malaria, paving the way for the development of new drugs to treat the deadly disease. According to the World Health Organisation malaria currently infects more than 225 million people worldwide and accounts for nearly 800,000 deaths per year. Most deaths occur among children living in Africa where a child dies every 45...

New class of compounds would target earliest stages of infection Researchers have discovered a group of chemical compounds that might one day be developed into drugs that can treat malaria infection in both the liver and the bloodstream. The study, which appears in the Nov. 18 issue of Science, was led by Elizabeth A. Winzeler, Ph.D., of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., and was partially funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of...

Findings point to the development of novel drugs that could eradicate the disease A international team led by scientists from the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) and The Scripps Research Institute has discovered a family of chemical compounds that could lead to a new generation of antimalarial drugs capable of not only alleviating symptoms but also preventing the deadly disease. In a study published November 17, 2011, in Science Express, the advance online...

Findings Point to the Development of Novel Drugs that Could Eradicate the Disease LA JOLLA, Calif., Nov. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A international team led by scientists from the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) and The Scripps Research Institute has discovered a family of chemical compounds that could lead to a new generation of antimalarial drugs capable of not only alleviating symptoms but also preventing the deadly disease. In a study...

A study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute and their Zambian colleagues detected contrasting patterns of drug resistance in malaria-causing parasites taken from both humans and mosquitoes in rural Zambia. Parasites found in human blood samples showed a high prevalence for pyrimethamine-resistance, which was consistent with the class of drugs widely used to treat malaria in the region. However, parasites taken from mosquitoes themselves had very low...