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Inspiring Science

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Inspiring Science

Tag Archives: malaria

Drug resistance evolves in inbred parasites

05 Wednesday Mar 2014

Posted by sedeer in Disease, Humans

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

biology, drug resistance, Education, Health, Human, malaria, Popular science, science, Science communication

Mosquito (photo courtesy Wikipedia)It all starts with a mosquito bite. When a hungry mosquito pierces someone’s skin to gorge herself, she also pumps in her saliva to stop the blood from clotting. Far too often, microscopic stowaways hiding in the insect’s salivary glands also make the trip, crossing over into the victim’s bloodstream to look for a new home. These serpentine parasites swim along the blood vessels, making their way to the liver and infecting liver cells within just a few minutes. They hide inside these cells for anywhere from a week to a month (or even several months, in some cases), copying their DNA and growing larger and larger as they prepare for the next stage of their life. Eventually, the growing mass breaks up. A swarm of single-celled parasites bursts out of the liver cells and into the blood; once there, they invade red blood cells, feeding on their haemoglobin and energy stores to fuel another reproductive burst which will infect more red blood cells. As the parasite spreads through the blood, the unfortunate host will start showing the symptoms of malaria — everything from headaches and joint pain to fever, vomiting, and even convulsions. When a mosquito bites an infected person, she sucks up the parasite as part of her bloody meal. The malaria parasite mates within the mosquito, going through several stages before producing the serpentine cells that migrate to the salivary glands, ready to start the entire cycle anew.
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We’re getting closer to a malaria vaccine

24 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by sedeer in Humans, Immunology

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Tags

biology, Education, Health, Human, immunity, malaria, mosquito, Popular science, science, Science communication, vaccination, vaccine

Malaria parasite (photo courtesy Wikipedia)Malaria hardly needs an introduction. With over 200 million people infected, it takes the life of an African child every minute. Although we have drugs to help treat the disease, there isn’t an effective vaccine available, partly due to the malaria pathogen’s variability. Now, a research collaboration between labs in the US and Australia has brought a step closer to that goal by figuring out how to produce a vaccine which works against many different strains. Continue reading →

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