HIV after DARC

sea-maid submitted, created time 5 months 3 weeks (www.sciencenews.org)

Battling malaria for millennia helped Africans build barriers against the parasite that causes it, but that defense has proven to be a double-edged sword for HIV infection. One protein, the Duffy antigen receptor for cytokines, protects against malaria by making the individual more susceptible to contracting HIV. However, those same individuals do live longer once infected.

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Lending a Helping Arm to Malaria Vaccine

WHO reports that anti-malaria efforts are working

Darkfrog submitted, created time 11 months 1 day (www.sciam.com)

A combination of nets and spraying has been connected to significantly reduced malaria deaths in developing countries. I thought everyone could use some good news.

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Researchers take whole-parasite road to a malaria vaccine

Darkfrog submitted, created time 1 year 3 weeks (www.nytimes.com)

Most vaccines are made from extracted or re-created proteins, but these guys are trying the whole plasmodium vivax, killed with radiation. So far, the process seems too cumbersome to be practical, but unlike sole-protein vaccines, it doesn't leave people collapsing in the middle of a conference.

So far it looks pretty tough. They have to remove the salivary glands by hand and it takes the whole team an hour to do just eighty mosquitoes.

On a more amusing note, you know how they kill the mosquitoes without killing the parasites? Ethanol. Drink up, kiddo.

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CRESIB coordinates an international consortium to fight malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax

bianjie submitted, created time 1 year 5 months (www.idibaps.ub.edu)

The CRESIB (Centre de Recerca en Salut Internacional de Barcelona, a Research Institute on International Health established in Barcelona) will put into operation a new research consortium on malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax, under the coordination of Dr. Pedro Alonso, director of CRESIB and of the International Health Centre of Hospital Clic de Barcelona.

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Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine, Chlorproguanil-Dapsone, or Chloroquine for the Treatment of Plasmodium vivax Malaria in Afghanistan and Pakistan

medal submitted, created time 1 year 7 months (jama.ama-assn.org)

"Although chloroquine remains the drug of choice, antifolates are effective against P vivax malaria in South Asia. These drugs may be appropriate for unified treatment where species-specific diagnosis is unavailable, most likely in combination with other drugs. "

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Genetic Diversity and Selection at the Plasmodium vivax Apical Membrane Antigen-1 (PvAMA-1) Locus in a Sri Lankan Population

alpha submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (mbe.oxfordjournals.org)

"Plasmodium vivax apical membrane antigen 1 (PvAMA-1) is an important malaria vaccine candidate. We present the first comprehensive analysis of nucleotide diversity across the entire PvAMA-1 gene using a single population sample from Sri Lanka. In contrast to what has been observed at the AMA-1 locus of Plasmodium falciparum, the signature of diversifying selection is seen most strongly in Domain II of PvAMA-1, indicating that the different domains in each species may be subject to varying selective pressures and functional constraints."

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Transgenic mosquitoes kill malaria -- but is this a Pandora's box?

Darkfrog submitted, created time 1 year 9 months (www.nature.com)

A team from Bloomberg and Johns Hopkins has successfully engineered a breed of mosquitoes that are completely resistant to the Plasmodium vivax parasite that causes malaria in humans. Experiments show that these mosquitoes, if released into the wild, would outcompete its natural brethren, possibly driving malaria into a much-needed extinction.

I'm a bit wary. Humans have tried to introduce animals into new environments before -- remember Bufo marinus? -- and it doesn't always work out so well

2 comments | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: transgenic organisms malaria disease prevention malaria parasite parasites plasmodium vivax