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?

[perlyking]

How true. It cost me £35 for malaria medicine for just a 2-3 week trip last time.
I bet a lot of people there would have been glad to get £35 per month income.

Re:Trying to be helpful?

[tsa]

Off-topic, I know, but I found your sig interesting. I saw a few documantaries about the Palistinians and looked up up more information. It's amazing: this is a people that has been suppressed and humiliated for more than 3000 years! It all began when the Israelites invaded the 'land of milk and honey' as described in the Bible. That is something to think about...

Re:Trying to be helpful?

[Muad'Dave]

I agree that there exist lower cost alternatives to creating a genetically-based cure for (as you stated) basically a 3rd world problem. In my mind the success or failure of this research to produce a workable vaccine is secondary to the experience and expertise in creating genetic vaccines gathered by the attempt. This may open doors for the sucessful treatment of other 1st world diseases that are otherwise impossible to treat.

Re:Trying to be helpful?

[cp99]

A maleria vaccine could greatly benefit the third world, if they ignore international IP laws. While designer drugs are hugely expensive, third world companies can produce them cheaply (lower labour costs, smaller profit margin, no massive overbloated marketing budget, no need to recoup R&D costs). The problem with this, is this is that it provides a disincentive for companies to perform research into 3rd world disease treatment. It's a tough situation, and I don't know the answer.

However, I do agree with you, about traditional malaria prevention.

Re:Trying to be helpful?

[DustMagnet]

I also heard the NPR story. What I found most interesting was that the DNA of Malaria is made up almost entirely of T and A. Almost no C or G. This made it harder to sequence.

Malaria is a very strange lifeform.

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.

Re:Trying to be helpful?

[molo]

He noted the cost of traditional malaria prevention methods, such as spraying stagnant water and pesticide-soaked sleeping nets

Yeah, that sounds real safe. We'll just douse everything we own in pesticides. I'm sure a malaria treatment would cost much less in the long run compared to the health problems from pesticide use.

Re:Trying to be helpful?

[castlan]

With their positions as Interstate Superpowers, the US and EU also have the most restrictive effects in their applications of patent law. Since the US surpassed other nations global superpower, it really doesn't seem that we should be fighting so hard to be a global brain-drain at the cost of humanity... patents should be loosened, we are ahead of the game internationally.

It seems that the whole patent's protecting the huge investment of corporate research is an effective strawman, allowing the first company to strike upon a useful solution to global ills to hold humanity in its grasp, extorting those who it claims to be be helping.

It's not as if there isn't already significant interest in solving these problems. It's just unlikely that anybody else can beat a multibilliondollar corporation to the finish line, especially with the stifling portfolio of previous patents many of then have acquired. Perhaps independent, or or civic minded researcher could also come up with thereputic methods to cure disease, but not when they are competing with bottomless pits of money and influence.

Sure, the huge corporation might come up with the cure earlier than more charitable "competition", but how it that a benefit if the solution is then withheld from the world for X years beyond the lifespan of the original patentholder. How many lifetimes is that when you consider the afflicted who can't afford to recompensate the behemoth researcher who withholds this aid from the rest of the world?

Patents have multiplied almost as gemetrically as many pathogens, but they have outlifed their original, healthy purpose. Now they are a blight upon society, and should be eradicated.

unfortuantely, it is much easier to control the populations of moquitoes than it is lawyers...

Oh great, mail order malaria

[Henry V .009]

Great, now everybody will be able to assemble malaria from scratch using internet mail-order DNA segments like was done with polio. Good going. Sequence some more deadly virus genomes while you're at it.

Re:Oh great, mail order malaria

[Daniel Dvorkin]

Malaria is a parasite, not a virus. If you don't understand the difference, then you're too ignorant to be commenting on this topic.

Re:Oh great, mail order malaria

[Henry V .009]

I was referring to polio as the virus, not malaria. I even wrote an article about P. falciparum once.

But that's beside the point, dumbass. I was making a joke. Get a clue.

Re:Oh great, mail order malaria

[Daniel Dvorkin]

Sorry, didn't get the joke. There are a lot of Luddite morons out there who would say something like that and mean it.

Re:Oh great, mail order humans

[Henry V .009]

Next time I'll include this: :)

now everybody will be able to assemble americans from scratch using internet mail-order DNA

Oh, god. I hope no one sequences the French.

Not true at all...

[Angry Toad]

There are very specific reasons why this particular genome sequence, while it may not benefit you personally, may alter or save the lives of millions of people within the next ten years.

Relatively recently it was discovered that the malaria parasite contains a small, relict chloroplast. This is big news. The choloroplast (for those of you rusty on your biology, the green thingy that plants use to put sunlight to use in making ATP, essentially the energy-storage molecule for life) is degenerate and certainly doesn't do photosynthesis anymore. On the other hand it appears that many of the chloroplast genes have transferred themselves into the Plasmodium genome and become intergrally linked into the metabolism of the parasite.

Why is this a big deal? Because there are lots of chemicals around which kill plants by interfering with cholorplast metabolism, and which are simultaneously harmless to humans. This means a raft of new candidate cures for the disease.

Many are already undergoing development. The publication of the Plasmoium genome means that it will be a (moderately) easy task to tease out a complete list of all the chloroplast-related genes which are involved in the metabolism of the parasite, and to expand the list of potential treatments even more based upon this information.

Re:Not true at all...

[Guppy]

"Relatively recently it was discovered that the malaria parasite contains a small, relict chloroplast"

This particular organelle is also called an apicoplast. Anyway -- one potentially interesting side effect of this development.

There are quite a few third world nations that have trouble affording current anti-malarials (even when discounted or generically manufacturered). A lot of these chloroplast-targeting herbicides are relatively simple molecules, and are already manufactured in bulk quantities for very low prices (compared to medicines). If some of the current chloroplast-targeting herbicides are suitable as-is, then not only do we have a whole new class of drugs -- but some of them could be really cheap.

Of course, if you want to manufacture them in an FDA-licensed, cGMP facility, that will jack up the price. But agricultural-quality material could be had for a few cents per treatment.

Great news

[lovebyte]

1. Quite a few posts here mention patents. Let me say this clearly: Patents on genomic DNA have nothing to do with Malaria. So please stop mixing the two.

2. The problem with Malaria is that no pharma is going to look for a cure since there is no money to be made. So some public research is needed and some public research is being done. Unfortunately not enough. The last numbers I heard were something like 1000 times less than on Aids. Although Malaria kills about the same number of people. Not enough artists lobby governements for malaria research unfortunately.

3. The good news is that things will probably change now. The Malaria parasite is absolutely facinating. It is partly plant partly animal, it is highly biased in its genomic composition (much more As and Ts than Gs and Cs) and hope is on the way. Herbicide drugs have already been tested and with better knowledge of its genome, we can kill the bastard. What is needed is more research, more rich governements awareness and some luck.

4. I have had a pet idea for some years now and maybe one day someone will implement it. It is the following: Why not tax pharmas by asking them to do 1% (more or less) of their research on third-world diseases? They could for instance scan their huge chemical banks for cures for Malaria, Aids, ... That would cost little to them and may prove extremely valuable to all. Just a thought.