WEHImovies | Researchers capture 'key' to deadly malaria infection @WEHImovies | Uploaded December 2018 | Updated October 2024, 1 hour ago.
An international team led by Institute researchers has visualised for the first time the unique molecular ‘key’ used by the world’s deadliest malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, to enter and infect human blood cells.
This breakthrough provides scientists with the missing information required to design a vaccine that combats the prevalent parasite.
The findings represent a significant milestone in malaria research because the parasite kills more than 500,000 people each year and an effective vaccine for protection against it does not yet exist.
Published in Nature, the study was led by Professor Alan Cowman and Dr Wilson Wong at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.
An international team led by Institute researchers has visualised for the first time the unique molecular ‘key’ used by the world’s deadliest malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, to enter and infect human blood cells.
This breakthrough provides scientists with the missing information required to design a vaccine that combats the prevalent parasite.
The findings represent a significant milestone in malaria research because the parasite kills more than 500,000 people each year and an effective vaccine for protection against it does not yet exist.
Published in Nature, the study was led by Professor Alan Cowman and Dr Wilson Wong at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.
