Malaria News and Research

Latest Malaria News and Research

Treating silent malaria cases could help stop spread of disease, shows study

In regions where malaria illness is widespread, it is common to find many individuals who are infected with malaria parasites, but without symptoms.

8 Jun 2018

New project maps impact of climate change on tropical diseases

The HEALTHY FUTURES project developed an online interactive atlas that maps and predicts the risk in eastern Africa of three deadly tropical diseases: malaria and Rift Valley fever, both transmitted by mosquitos, and schistosomiasis, which is caused by worms that emerge from freshwater snails.

7 Jun 2018

Scientists develop new method to speed up genome evolution of baker's yeast

Scientists have created a new way of speeding up the genome evolution of baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the same yeast people use for bread and beer production, to develop a synthetic yeast strain that can be transformed on demand for use in various industrial applications.

26 May 2018

UAB professor receives award for malaria prevention study in pregnant women in Cameroon

Jodie Dionne-Odom, M.D., assistant professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Division of Infectious Diseases and chief of Women's Health Services at UAB's 1917 Clinic, has been awarded a five-year, $841,000 K23 grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.

25 May 2018

New study puts forth most comprehensive tree of life for malaria parasites

A new study led by the American Museum of Natural History puts forth the most comprehensive tree of life for malaria parasites to date.

24 May 2018

Unique imaging technique identifies biomarkers of cellular damage done by diabetic retinopathy

What happens to the human retina at the cellular level when it's exposed to the hyperglycemic conditions of diabetes? No known imaging technique has been able to show such biochemical changes – until now.

24 May 2018

USC researchers develop new portable device for early-stage malaria detection

According to the World Health Organization, over 216 million people were infected with malaria in 2016, and 445,000 individuals died from the disease. The key to solving this health crisis is early-stage diagnosis when malaria therapeutics are most effective. A new prototype for a portable instrument capable early-stage malaria detection has been developed by a team of researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

23 May 2018

Zika detection breakthrough by University of Queensland

A cheap and effective tool that could save lives by helping health authorities target mosquitos infected with Zika virus has been developed by researchers from the University of Queensland and colleagues in Brazil.

23 May 2018

Malaria-causing parasite seeks refuge inside the liver to replicate and survive

When the malaria-causing Plasmodium parasite first slips into the human bloodstream, injected by the bite of an infected mosquito, it does not immediately target red blood cells.

23 May 2018

Study brings fresh insights into biology of malaria parasite

A team of researchers led by a University of California, Riverside, scientist has found that various stages of the development of human malaria parasites, including stages involved in malaria transmission, are linked to epigenetic features and how chromatin -- the complex of DNA and proteins within the nucleus -- is organized and structured in these parasites.

18 May 2018

Lizards with bright green blood baffle scientists

A species of lizards has been found to have bright green blood. Researchers in their study published this Tuesday said that this finding could provide understanding in illnesses such as malaria and jaundice. The study was published in Science Advances.

17 May 2018

MIT researchers develop new versatile plug-and-play diagnostic devices

Researchers at MIT's Little Devices Lab have developed a set of modular blocks that can be put together in different ways to produce diagnostic devices.

17 May 2018

Volatile biomarkers could help detect acute and asymptomatic malaria infections

Malaria is still a deadly disease in tropical and subtropical regions. Every year the disease infects more than 200 million people worldwide, claiming several hundred thousand victims.

15 May 2018

Researchers use body odor to diagnose malaria

An international team of researchers recently discovered that malaria could be diagnosed through changes in body odor.

15 May 2018

Researchers lab-test molecule that may combat common cold virus

Researchers have lab-tested a molecule that can combat the common cold virus by preventing it from hijacking human cells.

15 May 2018

Giving identical subsidies can get gold-standard medications into the hands of consumers

Equal subsidies "surprisingly powerful," in promoting use of gold-standard medications, new study shows.

9 May 2018

Newly developed technique allows researchers to study liver stage malaria

A newly developed technique allows researchers to more easily study malaria outside the human body during the earliest point of infection, the liver.

9 May 2018

Bone marrow is an important reservoir for replication and transmission of malaria parasites, shows study

A Plasmodium vivax infection is like an iceberg: It's dangerous, in part, because much of it hides out of view.

8 May 2018

Unexpected discovery could improve detection of malaria infections

While the global health community has made great strides toward eradicating malaria through prevention and treatment strategies, rapid and inexpensive methods to diagnose submicroscopic malaria in individuals who have no clinical symptoms and undetectable levels of disease-causing parasites in their blood remain an unmet need.

4 May 2018

Study reveals essential malaria parasite genes

Researchers have exploited a quirk in the genetic make-up of the deadly malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, to create 38,000 mutant strains and then determine which of the organism's genes are essential to its growth and survival.

3 May 2018