A new model for predicting the effects of climate change on malaria transmission in Africa could lead to more targeted interventions to control the disease according to a new study. Previous methods have used rainfall totals to indicate the presence of surface water suitable for breeding mosquitoes, but the new research used several climatic and hydrological models to include real-world processes of evaporation, infiltration and flow through rivers. This groundbreaking approach has created a more in-depth picture of malaria-friendly conditions on the African continent ..read more

Adjuvants make vaccines more effective, though one of the best is an expensive extract from the soap bark tree. To lower the cost and avoid the laborious extraction process from bark, synthetic biologists introduced 38 separate genes into yeast to recreate the synthesis of the active molecule, a complex chemical, QS-21, that has a terpene core and numerous sugars. This may be the longest biosynthetic pathway ever inserted into yeast ..read more

Natural malaria infections have been genetically analysed at a higher resolution than ever before, giving insights that could help understand and block transmission ..read more

Researchers discovered that more than 300 liver genes are under circadian control: Circadian variations affect how much of a drug is available and how effectively the body can break it down ..read more

A groundbreaking study combined novel experimental data within an innovative modeling framework to examine how temperature might affect transmission risk of malaria in different environments in Africa ..read more

Did you know that the world's deadliest animal is the mosquito? And Aedes aegypti is one of the most dangerous. This bug spreads viruses that cause dengue fever, which was recently declared as an epidemic in Puerto Rico. Research reports new molecules that label proteins in the unique, alkaline environment of the Ae. aegypti digestive system that could help scientists develop insecticides to fight back ..read more

A recent breakthrough sheds light on how the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, invades human red blood cells. The study reveals the role of a sugar called sialic acid in this invasion process. The findings have major implications for malaria vaccine and drug development ..read more

A group of researchers is calling on colleagues around the world to join them in what they call 'pathogen prospecting' by tracking down archival specimens of mosquitoes in museums and other collections to examine them for pathogens that would have infected people with malaria while feeding on their blood ..read more

People living in ancient Eastern Arabia appear to have developed resistance to malaria following the appearance of agriculture in the region around five thousand years ago ..read more

Researchers found that by preventing the malaria parasite from scavenging fatty acids, a type of required nutrient, it could no longer grow ..read more