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Researchers from the Pasteur Institute discover molecules that can kill the malaria parasite and researchers from LSTM identify a resistance mechanism for insecticides used on bed nets.
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Transcript:
Researchers from the Pasteur Institute in France have identified molecules that can kill the malaria parasite.
To transmit malaria, the parasite requires two hosts: humans and female Anopheles mosquitoes. As it’s transmitted between them, it adapts to its environment through a process called DNA methylation.
The addition of molecules that inhibit this process has proven successful in killing the malaria parasites. In vitro, the molecules killed artemisinin-resistant P. falciparum parasites, some of which within the space of six hours.
And researchers from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine have identified a resistance mechanism for insecticides used on bed nets.
A particular protein, called SAP2, was found to be higher in populations of insecticide-resistant parasites. When they partially silenced the gene, their susceptibility to pyrethroids was restored.
The researchers screened both gambiae and coluzzii.
Sources:
A Sensory Appendage Protein Protects Malaria Vectors From Pyrethroids
Image Credits: Pasteur Institute
Scientific Advisor: Katharine Collins, Radboud University Medical Centre
