Scientists construct genetic map for malaria parasites
March 12th, 2010 by , under nnmj.com.
Scientists construct genetic map for malaria parasites
Last Updated: Wednesday, October 8, 2008 3:51 PM ET
CBC News
Scientists have sequenced the genomes of two of the parasites known to carry malaria, developments they hope will lead to improvements in vaccines and treatments for the deadly virus.
In separate papers to be published in the Thursday issue of the journal Nature, two international groups of scientists said they have sequenced the genomes of Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium knowlesi, two of the parasites known to carry the infectious virus.
The genome of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite most responsible for the spread of malaria to humans throughout the world, was sequenced in 2002, as was the genome of the mosquito that carries it to humans.
Infected female mosquitoes carry the spores of the plasmodium group of parasites to humans. The spores collect in the human liver, multiply there, and then divide and enter red blood cells, where they quickly spread throughout the body.
Malaria killed nearly one million people worldwide in 2006, according to a report from the World Health Organization published in September of this year. There were also an estimated 247 million cases of malaria in the world in 2006, according to the same report.
Contracting malaria through Plasmodium vivax, which is responsible for from 25 to 40 per cent of the annual cases of malaria worldwide, seldom leads to death, the researchers said. But the disease is known to lie dormant in the liver for months and can recur long after the primary infection has cleared.
The group of researchers studying it hope they will be able to compare its genetic sequence with that of the more deadly parasites to learn why the malaria it transmits is more benign.
Plasmodium knowlesi is more known as a parasite for a primate called the kra monkey, but it has become more common in cases of human malaria in southeast Asia. The group of researchers studying it reported that some of the genetic sequences found in the parasite were also found in the host monkey, suggesting what they call "an unusual form of mimicry" which may be used to avoid detection.
The other main malaria parasites known to infect humans, P. ovale and P. malariae, have yet to be sequenced.
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