Plasmodium falciparum News and Research

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Study unveils genetic architecture that enables parasite to develop antimalarial drug resistance

The largest genome-wide association study to date of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum unveils a complex genetic architecture that enables the parasite to develop resistance to our most effective antimalarial drug, artemisinin. The results could help to improve early detection of emerging artemisinin resistance.

20 Jan 2015

Study finds that K13 gene mutations cause malaria drug resistance in Southeast Asia

Growing resistance to malaria drugs in Southeast Asia is caused by a single mutated gene inside the disease-causing Plasmodium falciparum parasite, according to a study led by David Fidock, PhD, professor of microbiology & immunology and of medical sciences (in medicine) at Columbia University Medical Center.

12 Dec 2014

Researchers develop nanomimics of host cell membranes that trick malaria parasites

Malaria parasites invade human red blood cells, they then disrupt them and infect others. Researchers at the University of Basel and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute have now developed so-called nanomimics of host cell membranes that trick the parasites. This could lead to novel treatment and vaccination strategies in the fight against malaria and other infectious diseases.

9 Dec 2014

Promising anti-malarial compound uses novel mechanism to kill malaria parasite

An international research collaborative has determined that a promising anti-malarial compound tricks the immune system to rapidly destroy red blood cells infected with the malaria parasite but leave healthy cells unharmed. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists led the study, which appears in the current online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

5 Dec 2014

Melbourne researcher wins Sornchai Looareesuwan Medal for research on malaria

Melbourne researcher Professor Alan Cowman has won the Sornchai Looareesuwan Medal 2014 for his significant contributions to understanding how the malaria parasite causes disease and for his search for potential malaria vaccines.

4 Dec 2014

Researchers come up with new technique to diagnose malaria

Over the past several decades, malaria diagnosis has changed very little. After taking a blood sample from a patient, a technician smears the blood across a glass slide, stains it with a special dye, and looks under a microscope for the Plasmodium parasite, which causes the disease.

1 Sep 2014

Scientists identify number of compounds to treat cancer could add to anti-malarial arsenal

Scientists searching for new drugs to fight malaria have identified a number of compounds -- some of which are currently in clinical trials to treat cancer -- that could add to the anti-malarial arsenal.

26 Aug 2014

Researchers use optical tweezers to measure how strongly parasites adhere to red blood cells

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by a parasite that invades one red blood cell after another. Little is known about this infection process because it happens so quickly, potentially explaining why there is currently no approved malaria vaccine.

20 Aug 2014

Injecting vaccine-like compound into mice effective in protecting from malaria

A study led by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers found that injecting a vaccine-like compound into mice was effective in protecting them from malaria.

12 Aug 2014

New approach to knocking out parasite's genes

Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria, has proven notoriously resistant to scientists' efforts to study its genetics.

12 Aug 2014

Combination therapy effective in treating drug-resistant malaria

Resistance to artemisinin, the main drug to treat malaria, is now widespread throughout Southeast Asia, among the Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) parasites that cause the disease and is likely caused by a genetic mutation in the parasites.

31 Jul 2014

Researchers discover new vaccine targets to combat malaria

Researchers have discovered new vaccine targets that could help in the battle against malaria. Taking a new, large-scale approach to this search, researchers tested a library of proteins from the Plasmodium falciparum parasite with antibodies produced by the immune systems of a group of infected children.

31 Jul 2014

Scientists may be able to entomb malaria parasite in prison

Scientists may be able to entomb the malaria parasite in a prison of its own making, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report July 16 in Nature.

17 Jul 2014

New compound blocks action of key 'gatekeeper' enzyme for malaria parasite survival

Melbourne researchers are homing in on a new target for malaria treatment, after developing a compound that blocks the action of a key 'gatekeeper' enzyme essential for malaria parasite survival.

2 Jul 2014

New genetic 'barcode' for malaria parasites could be used to track and contain spread of disease

A new genetic 'barcode' for malaria parasites has been found which could be used to track and contain the spread of the disease, according to new research led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

13 Jun 2014

Mylan launches generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's Malarone Tablets

Mylan Inc. today announced that it has launched Atovaquone and Proguanil Hydrochloride Tablets, 62.5 mg/25 mg and 250 mg/100 mg, the generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's Malarone® Tablets.

29 May 2014

Researchers generate 3D model of human malaria parasite genome

A research team led by a cell biologist at the University of California, Riverside has generated a 3D model of the human malaria parasite genome at three different stages in the parasite's life cycle - the first time such 3D architecture has been generated during the progression of the life cycle of a parasite.

7 Apr 2014