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Malaria Genome Mapped

Posted by michael on from the a-man-a-plan-a-canal dept.

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"

5 of 33 comments (clear)

  1. Trying to be helpful? by Chris+Canfield · · Score: 4, Interesting
    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.

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    1. Re:Trying to be helpful? by Muad'Dave · · Score: 3, Insightful

      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.

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    2. Re:Trying to be helpful? by Dannon · · Score: 3, Interesting

      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.

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  2. Oh great, mail order malaria by Henry+V+.009 · · Score: 3, Funny

    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.

  3. Not true at all... by Angry+Toad · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.