Malaria Genome Mapped

kilaasi writes "A team of scientist have mapped the malaria-genome. 'After six years, Gardner and an international team have pieced together the DNA sequence of the tiny parasite Plasmodium falciparum that causes the majority of human malaria.' This does not imply that there is a cure at the moment, but it does give hope for a cure in the future. Regards Claus"

Comments

Trying to be helpful?

[Chris Canfield]

NPR was running a story about this earlier this morning. I can't open the above link as the terminal I am on cannot support realplayer, so forgive me if I mistake a few facts. However, what I do remember is that NPR's Dan Charles noted that Malaria is primarily a 3rd world nation disease and hardly ever attacks 1st world nations like the US and Great Britan. However, the likely outcome of any genomic research into the virus and an eventual cure could only be affordable to first-world countries, as designer drugs are notoriously expensive. He noted the cost of traditional malaria prevention methods, such as spraying stagnant water and pesticide-soaked sleeping nets, would be a few million dollars per year and would be enough to prevent the great majority of malaria cases. That cost would be less than the cost of another type of rare vaccination they mentioned in the US, and less than the cost of the genetic research which prompted this story.

And I personally have to agree. The US and EU have unique positions as national superpowers with the ability to eradicate many of the world's ills, but with the system-wide problem that the only way these countries are set up to do so is through profit motivated reseach, not simple and unglamorous program implementation.

Re:Trying to be helpful?

[Dannon]

My father knows some folks who work in medical research, especially with regards to researching viruses and fighting diseases. Thing is, they're not motivated personally by a search for profit. They're motivated by a strange fascination with these horrible, horrible little things that can do so much damage to human life. (Kind of like my fascination with politicians....)

However, research is expensive. So, researchers need investors. And investors don't have an unlimited amount of capital. They have to pick and choose which projects to invest in. To do this, they have to take several factors into consideration. Likelihood of actually getting something out of the research is a starting point. Usefulness of the product is another. And, of course, the likelihood of recouping their investment in a timely enough manner to invest in other projects. In other words, profit margin.

And it's probably no coincidence that, in general, the most successful medical research generally comes out of the countries with the most freedom in the markets.