In this issue: Vobs Updates, Journal Clubs, Parasite Data Survey, ABI Information Session, and Egypt is Malaria-Free.
It’s almost two weeks since the end of the 9th Genomic Epidemiology of Malaria Conference (GEM) Conference. This edition had 177 in-person attendees and 401 watching online, all the way from Peru to…
Inside: GEM 2024, Vobs updates, Parasite Data Survey, Vector Mini-Symposium, Women in Malaria, and a New vaccine for pregnant women.
The Dominic Kwiatkowski GEM award celebrates two early-to-mid-career scientists from malaria-endemic countries who have made outstanding contributions to the malaria genomics field.
Inside: World Mosquito Day, Artemisinin resistance review, Coluzzii in Kenya, PAMCA Lift2Her III, Abdoulaye Diabate Ted2024, and Diplotype Clustering.
Researchers and public health authorities recently discovered Anopheles coluzzii mosquitoes in Kenya for the first time. A new study, published in Malaria Journal, suggests that closer monitoring of mosquito populations could change how…
To mark World Mosquito Day 2024, hear from three MalariaGEN partners about the role that genomic data resources and capacity building can play in malaria vector control across Africa.
In this issue: Pf-HaploAtlas released, Join the haplotype analysis clinic, Cameroon genomic capacity grows, APMEN training, and World Mosquito Day 2024.
Malaria remains a major global health challenge, and tracking the genetic mutations of Plasmodium falciparum is crucial for controlling the disease. The Pf-HaploAtlas app is a new tool that enables researchers and public…
In this issue: Training Course wraps up, Meet Prof Alfred Amambua-Ngwa, July Journal Club, Vector Genomics Fellows at the Sanger Institute, and Vaccines in South Sudan and CAR.
Alfred Amambua-Ngwa is a Professor at the MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM dedicated to understanding and combatting malaria using genomics. We caught up with Alfred and he highlighted key milestones from the…
Honorine Kaboré and Mahamadi Kientega will be completing a three-month placement with the Lawniczak group and Malaria Vector Genomic Surveillance teams.
In this issue: Come connect at GEM 2024, Brice Letcher Journal Club, mosquito mutations blog, parasite partner study resources, Anopheles coluzzii in Kenya, and apply for a Post-Doc role.
The 9th Genomic Epidemiology of Malaria (GEM) conference organised by Wellcome Connecting Science will take place from 18th to 20th September 2024 at the Wellcome Genome Campus (UK) and virtually.
Why did mosquitoes in a Tanzanian district develop – and then lose – resistance to a banned insecticide?
In this issue: World Malaria Day 2024, Joel Odero Journal Club, data access update, Prof Dominic Kwiatkowski’s final paper, genomic surveillance for malaria control, MIM 2024, and register for GEM.
This World Malaria Day, we hear from two malaria genomics researchers from the MalariaGEN community, Honorine Kaboré and Dr Fiacre Agossa. Through their work, they demonstrate that malaria genomics research and surveillance remain…
The final scientific paper by Professor Dominic Kwiatkowski, completed shortly before his passing, has now been published. Those who worked closely with Dominic reflect on this deeply intellectual contribution, the culmination of a…
To help us continue providing cloud data resources for the community, we are making some changes to how data are accessed. If you are actively using MalariaGEN data, or are planning to use…
In this issue: Dr Sanjay Nagi Journal Club, Sequencing Survey, Locking out parasites, cryptotypes in Africa, training course begins, vacancies at ISGlobal, GEM 2024
For 11 weeks, participants from across Africa will join virtual workshops to learn how to analyse genomic surveillance data of malaria mosquitoes.
MalariaGEN partners uncovered a parasite group spread at low frequency across Africa. Further research is now required to understand what the combination of rare variations in their genome do.
“If I don’t like you coming to my house, I change the locks.” We talk to Dr Dominic S. Y. Amuzu about his research into genetic variations keeping severe malaria at bay in…
In this issue: Women and Girls in Science, Journal Club with Olivo Miotto, Save the date for GEM 2024, Vector mini-symposium, Parallel evolution in malaria vectors, and MalariaGEN website survey.
In celebration of the 9th International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we spoke to three inspiring women who are contributing to a world free of malaria and vector-borne diseases.
Explore the new online home of MalariaGEN! The updates aim to create a cleaner and more modern design, making it easier for users to access, navigate, and analyse malaria genomic data.
In this issue: Journal Club with Dr Zach Popkin-Hall, Genomic surveillance lab in Mali, Cabo Verde certified malaria-free, New look for the MalariaGEN website, ASTMH 2024 Symposia, & Malaria vaccines become routine in…
The ability to collect, sequence, and analyse genomic data all in one country provides speed and flexibility for malaria researchers. We talked to Dr Aminatou Kone about efforts to establish a genomics surveillance…
In this issue: World Malaria Report 2023, Vector genomic data analysis training course, Pocket-sized sequencers to track malaria mutations, Procurement grant, Insecticide resistance in Burkina Faso, MIM Conference, Journal Club, & GEM 2024.
MalariaGEN partners working in Ghana have pioneered on-site genomic surveillance to track changes in the malaria parasite, achieving sampling to sequencing within 48 hours. This will guide local interventions and policy in near…
In this issue: Journal Club with Dr Eric Lucas, Vector data analysis training course, Portable malaria genomic surveillance, Shifting focus into endemic countries, Target Malaria & MalariaGEN on X Spaces, Frontiers in Genomics…
We are pleased to announce a free online training course to be held in 2024, delivered jointly by the Malaria Genomic Epidemiology Network (MalariaGEN) and the Pan-African Mosquito Control Association (PAMCA). Please note…
How can genomic surveillance support this new technology, which aims to genetically modify mosquitoes in order to suppress their populations and ultimately reduce malaria?
In this issue: Journal Club, Procurement grant reopens, ASTMH 2023 wraps up, PAMCA fellows at the GSU, Mahamadi Kientega blog, Dr Mamadou Coulibaly, R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine approved, & Malaria Genomics Convening in Dakar.
Insecticide resistance in mosquitoes is one of the urgent challenges for malaria vector control efforts, and one where genomic surveillance has an important role to play. We caught up with Mahamadi Kientega at…
Sonia Barasa and Ibra Lujumba are the second cohort of PAMCA bioinformatics fellows to be seconded to the Genomic Surveillance Unit (GSU) at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. Here, they talk about their experiences…
In this issue: PAMCA 2023, Co-evolving genomes – Journal Club, ASTMH Annual Meeting 2023, Genomic surveillance hubs in West Africa, Pioneering malaria genomic surveillance & Dominic Kwiatkowski MalariaGEN papers.
Below you will find a compilation of 10 landmark MalariaGEN papers that Dominic was an integral part of. Each includes a brief commentary provided by Dominic’s friends and colleagues.
Data-driven scientists from 14 countries met at the MalariaGEN-PAMCA hackathon in Addis Ababa to share experiences of using genomic surveillance datasets to track malaria mosquito vectors across Africa.
The Pan-African Mosquito Control Association (PAMCA) is this year holding its annual conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. For those attending, here are some highlights exploring themes that underpin the work of the MalariaGEN…
In this issue: World Mosquito Day, Malaria mosquito ID, 100-year-old mosquitoes, Latest in Malaria Journal, Nanopore sequencing, & Investigating insecticide resistance.
In this issue: Call for P. falciparum samples, Meet Varanya Wasakul, PAMCA-MalariaGEN 2023 Hackathon, Malaria vaccines in Africa, Vector data analysis training course ends, & GenMoz powering progress.
Varanya Wasakul wears many hats as the Scientific Coordinator of the GenRe-Mekong project at the Mahidol-Oxford Research Unit (MORU). In this interview, she talks about the serendipitous start to her career in malaria…
We’re thrilled to announce an update on our ongoing collaboration with the Pan-African Mosquito Control Association, which also includes a travel award.
In this issue: Journal Club, Vector genomic surveillance in Ethiopia, Dominic Kwiatkowski, Mapping malaria mutations in Mozambique, Vector data analysis training, Amplicon sequencing capacity grows, & Insights from Indian isolates.
Dr Lemu Golassa, Head of the Medical Parasitology Research Unit at Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University, explains how genomics could be a game-changer for malaria control in Ethiopia.
In this issue: In memoriam: Dominic Kwiatkowski, GenRe-Mekong Team Workshop, PAMCA Fellow Blog: Sonia Barasa, & A pair of genes.
Sonia Barasa, one of the 2022 PAMCA-MalariaGEN Bioinformatics Fellows, is a brilliant young scientist on a mission to tackle malaria. She’s always been fascinated by the mosquitoes that carry malaria, and she’s determined…
A world-renowned expert in genomics, malaria, and public health, Dominic Kwiatkowski’s ambitious vision brought this community together. We are deeply saddened to share that he passed away in April, 2023 from natural causes…
In this issue: #MalariaGEN on Twitter Spaces, World Malaria Day 2023 blog, Ghana and Nigeria approve new malaria vaccine, New PAMCA-MalariaGEN training course, Malaria gnomic datasets, & Mission possible: Africa CDC webinar.
We are pleased to announce a free online training course to be held in June/July 2023, delivered jointly by MalariaGEN and the Pan-African Mosquito Control Association (PAMCA).
In this issue: PAMCA fellows at Sanger, Genomic surveillance capacity growing in West Africa, Research technicians recognised, New insecticidal bed nets, Africa CDC survey, & International Women’s Day.
In collaboration with PAMCA, MalariaGEN has been supporting four researchers to undertake a two-year Bioinformatics Fellowship programme on malaria vector genomics. Two of the fellows, Jane Njeri Mwangi and Edward Lukyamuzi, are now…
In this issue: Six inspiring #WomenInSTEM, Grants for equipment and reagents, Harness genomics for public health, Mosquitos are moving, Submit an abstract to PAMCA, & New An. gambiae genome.
Small grants are now available to address the challenges of global supply chains and improve research capacity for genomic surveillance of malaria.
As the public health value of genomic data becomes clearer, more partners have begun setting up in-country sequencing operations. These six women are leading the way in The Gambia, Ghana, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
In this issue: Pf7 released, Genomic Surveillance Use Cases, AgamPrimer, Low parasite diversity in Ethiopian study, Nanopore sequencing in Ghana, & Analyse MalariaGEN data in the cloud.
Sanjay Nagi, a final-year PhD student at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, built a software package called AgamPrimer that uses MalariaGEN data to help researchers design primer candidates. This could make molecular…
Whole-genome sequences for 20,864 samples of P. falciparum are now freely available to download, analyse, and interpret. Since Pf6 was released in 2020, more than 13,000 new samples have been added.
In this issue: 2022 World Malaria Report, PAMCA Bioinformatics Fellows, How P. vivax hides from the immune system, 2020/21 Laos outbreak, An. minimus is diverse, & Identifying mosquitoes.
In partnership with the Pan-African Mosquito Control Association (PAMCA), we’re pleased to welcome four talented vector biology researchers to the MalariaGEN community. Meet Edward, Jane, Ibra, and Sonia, the first PAMCA Bioinformatics Fellows.
Paolo Bareng is a PhD student in Alyssa Barry‘s group at Deakin University in Australia. He is using MalariaGEN vivax data to hunt for mutations that help parasites evade the immune system. We…
In this issue: Goodbye Kim, Meet Alistair Miles, Intro to amplicon sequencing, Artemisinin turns 50, No artemisinin resistance in Peru… yet, & How do you extract DNA?
With a decade of experience turning mosquitoes into genomic data, Alistair Miles is a pillar of the community of entomologists and analysts that keep track of the evolutionary twists and turns of malaria…
Amplicon sequencing is a genomics technique where only specific parts of a genome are sequenced. MalariaGEN is helping labs around the world build amplicon sequencing capabilities to better integrate genomic surveillance into infection…
Hugo Valdivia, a SpotMalaria partner at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6, led a team that genotyped 233 malaria-positive blood samples in the Peruvian Amazon. They found intriguing population patterns that…
In this issue: How do you extract DNA, Meet Cristina Ariani, Collaboration in Kigali, See you at ASTMH, & Help map hrp2/3 gene deletions.
A selection of sessions not to be missed at #TropMed22
Combining bold scientific leadership, deep operational expertise, and a knack for building community, Cristina Ariani is ready to take up her new role at Sanger and drive public health impact.
At a “hackathon” ahead of the Pan-African Mosquito Control Association’s (PAMCA) annual conference in September, participants in the PAMCA-MalariaGEN Anopheles Genomics Training Course met in person and applied their new skills.
Thanks to the leadership and dedication of partners across West Africa, the future of genomic surveillance of malaria in West Africa is looking bright.
In this issue: The era of genomic surveillance, Regional sequencing hubs in West Africa, Test your mosquito knowledge, Sanger launches GSU, New team members, & Upcoming conferences.
Meet the newest members of the MalariaGEN Community Team.
MalariaGEN and the Pan-African Mosquito Control Association (PAMCA) continue to develop their existing collaboration in announcing a travel award for individuals to attend an in person Genomic Data Analysis Hackathon.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released a strategy to strengthen genomic surveillance of pathogens around the world.
Some malaria parasites in sub-Saharan Africa have genetic variants that allow them to infect those with sickle haemoglobin, which is normally thought to give strong protection against the disease.
Dr Shavanthi Rajatileka joined the Wellcome Sanger Institute (WSI) as part of a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funded global health project developing genomic surveillance operations in malaria endemic countries. Here she…
For World Mosquito Day, Dr. Brandy St. Laurent talks about using genomics to better understand diverse malaria vectors in Southeast Asia
In 2020 Dr Cristina Ariani became the Genomic Surveillance Operations Lead for Covid at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. This was a major career change as it meant leaving science to join the operational…
Genome variation data on more than 7,000 malaria parasites from 28 endemic countries is released today (24 February) in Wellcome Open Research. It has been produced by MalariaGEN, a data-sharing network of groups…
Thursday 11 February is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. To mark the day, MalariaGEN asked female scientists from around the world to offer advice for women in science. Today…
Professor Gordon Awandare is the Director of West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP), University of Ghana. His research focuses on the pathogenesis of Plasmodium falciparum in children, in particular…
GEM 2021, this annual gathering provides a common forum for malaria scientists and clinicians working at the interface of genome science and technology, epidemiology, and statistical and population genetics.
The African Union Commission launched the Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Africa PGI) through the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
In light of Covid 19 the Genomic Epidemiolgoy of Malaria Conference 2020 has been postponed to 7-10th June 2021.
In the latest publication from the MalariaGEN consortium, we report on genotype data that has been generated for over 17,000 individuals at 15 million genetic variants.
Scientists in the Plasmodium Diversity Network Africa have conducted genomic analysis across sub-sarahan Africa of the Plasmodium falciparum parasite and identified distinct sub-populations.
Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators have shown that multi-drug resistant co-lineage has spread across multiple countries in South East Asia and is replacing the local parasite populations. This invasive…
The 7th Genomic Epidemiology of Malaria (GEM) conference will take place on 11-13th June 2018 at the Wellcome Genome Campus in Hinxton. Applications are invited for the Travel Bursary Scheme – Deadline 3rd…
Researchers show that genetic surveillance can detect drug resistance years before the first warning signs appear in clinics—and help to answer crucial questions about how resistance emerges and spreads.
The most comprehensive genetic study of malaria parasites in Southeast Asia has shown that resistance to antimalarial drugs was under-reported for years in Cambodia. Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators…
Prof Martin Donnelly spoke to BBC Radio 4 Today Programme on the latest published findings of the Anopheles gambiae 1000 genomes project.
The largest ever genetic study of mosquitoes reveals the movement of insecticide resistance between different regions of Africa and finds several rapidly evolving insecticide resistance genes. Published in Nature, this genetic resource will…
Brandy St. Laurent is a postdoctoral research fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research. She is a mosquito…
Researchers from the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust, the University of Oxford and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, have undertaken an enormous exercise to bring together African malaria survey data from the past 115 years…
We’re going to ASTMH 2017
Save the date!
Pete Gething is head of the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP), Associate Professor at the Oxford University Nuffield Department of Medicine and Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre in Geospatial Disease…
Researchers have discovered that protection from the most severe form of malaria is linked with natural variation in human red blood cell genes. A study from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the Wellcome…
Changes in a number of genes have been found to offer some protection against severe malaria. A recent study, published last week in eLife, examines the role of one of these genes, G6PD,…
The link between glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency and its role in helping to protect against P. falciparum malaria was first identified in the 1950s but despite half a century of research it has…
Dr Roberto Amato spoke with Karen Thomas from Cambridge TV about the importance of genetic surveillance in the fight against malaria.
Scientists have discovered genetic markers in malaria parasites linked with resistance to the anti-malarial drug piperaquine. Reported in Lancet Infectious Diseases, this research will allow health officials to monitor the spread of resistance,…
Dr Deus Ishengoma is the interim Director of the Tanga Centre of the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in Tanzania. A long-time collaborator of MalariaGEN, he is also a co-founder of the…
Mark your calendar for ASTMH 2016
Our latest study, published in Genome Research, examines genome variation in three P. falciparum experimental crosses and reports findings from an integrated analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), insertions or deletions (indels) and…
Tom Williams is Professor of Haemoglobinopathy at Imperial College, London, with a permanent research base at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Programme in Kilifi, Kenya. During his recent visit to Oxford, we caught up with…
A look at why Ag1000G is using codon numbering from the Anopheles gambiae gene-set for all mutations.
Hear about our recent research using genome sequences to track human migration in Africa.
This year’s Genomic Epidemiology of Malaria (GEM) conference was hosted by the Wellcome Trust Scientific Conferences Programme on the Genome Campus in Hinxton, from 5-8 June 2016. As in previous years, GEM 2016…
Last month, I sat down with Professor Arjen Dondorp, Head of Malaria at the Mahidol Oxford Research Unit (MORU) in Bangkok, to discuss the looming threat of drug resistance and the drive to…
This blog post first appeared on the Global Health, Epidemiology, and Genomics blog.
This blog post first appeared on the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute blog
This blog post first appeared on the Oxford Science Blog
Professor Nadira Karunaweera is Head of Department of Parasitology at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and has been part of MalariaGEN from the beginning. We recently caught up with Nadira about undertaking…
Drug-resistant forms of Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest species among malaria parasites, are able to infect the mosquito species that is the main transmitter of malaria in Africa.
Alistair Miles introduces the latest data the P. falciparum Genetic Crosses project. Read on to learn more and take a tour of the P. falciparum Genetic Crosses web application. This post first appeared…
Mark your calendars for ASTMH 2015
Variations in DNA at a specific location (or ‘locus’) on the genome that protect African children from developing severe malaria, in some cases nearly halving a child’s chance of developing the life-threatening disease,…
Earlier this year at GEM 2015, I spoke with Professor Lisa White who leads the Mathematical and Economic Modelling Unit (MAEMOD) at the Mahidol-Oxford Research Unit in Bangkok, Thailand, about embedding modelling within…
MalariaGEN collaborators amongst first recipients of the DELTAS Africa awards
I heard her cries before I saw her. Rita* is a slight girl, maybe eight years old, and she has malaria. In this part of West Africa – a far northern corner of…
This week, the MalariaGEN P. falciparum genetic crosses project released a new data resource, comprising whole-genome sequence and genetic variation data from the parents and offspring of three parasite crosses.
The latest Ag1000G data release offers a more accurate view of genetic diversity in the major malaria vector
This computational course trained researchers and clinicians working in Africa on important aspects of human populations genetics and genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Participants from several countries including Cameroon, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi,…
Dr Janet Midega is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Anopheles Genetics working across the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in Oxford and the KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kilifi, Kenya. Her research…
The Pf3k Consortium has made its third public data release, the first to include data on all samples in the pilot phase of the project. Consisting of sample information, analysis BAMs and preliminary…
This blog post first appeared on the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute blog.
Today, we published the first issue of the MalariaGEN newsletter, which we hope will be a useful means of sharing our progress and scientific achievements.
Dr Alfred Amambua-Ngwa is a Career Development Fellow with the MRC Unit in The Gambia, whose research focuses on malaria population genomics with a particular interest in determining genome-wide signatures of selection for…
Malaria is transmitted from one person to another by mosquitoes. In parts of the world where malaria is endemic, targeting mosquitoes remains one of the best hopes for controlling malaria. Mosquitoes can be…
Study identifies complex genetic architecture behind drug resistance, providing a reminder of how crucial surveillance and elimination programmes are.
A study of the way malaria parasites behave when they live in human red blood cells has revealed that they can rapidly change the proteins on the surface of their host cells during…
The first major data set from the Anopheles gambiae 1000 Genomes (Ag1000G) project has been released, comprised of whole genome sequence data on 765 mosquitoes collected from 8 countries spanning sub-Saharan Africa. This…
This blog post first appeared on the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute blog.
The Plasmodium Diversity Network Africa (PDNA) has published an analysis of genetic variation in 1,212 P. falciparum samples collected from across 12 African countries.
In a paper just published in Nature Genetics, the MalariaGEN Consortium reports a major study that set out to replicate the many findings of genetic associations with severe malaria that have been reported…
Scientists are poised to capture data that will help support efforts to track and respond to the drug-resistant malaria parasites in Africa.
This blog post first appeared on the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute blog.
Drug-resistant malaria parasites have spread to critical border regions of South-east Asia, seriously threatening global malaria control and elimination programmes, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Genome sequences of Anopheles gambiae sister species help to investigate insecticide resistance
For the first time, researchers have identified a single protein, PfAP2-G, that acts as the master switch triggering the development of sexual forms of the parasite.
Findings published today in Nature identify mutations in the PF3D7_1343700 kelch propeller domain or ‘K-13 propeller’ that are associated with experimentally-induced resistance to the frontline malaria drug, artemisinin, and with naturally-occuring artemisinin resistance…
This week PLoS One published the paper “Association of Cytokine and Toll-Like Receptor Gene Polymorphisms with Severe Malaria in Three Regions of Cameroon” by Tobias Apinjoh et al.
This blog post first appeared on the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute blog.
Earlier this month, researchers at The Malaria Research and Training Centre, University of Bamako, Mali working in collaboration with the MalariaGEN Consortium, published a paper titled “Human Candidate Polymorphisms in Sympatric Ethnic Groups…
Scientists have developed a laboratory blood test which will detect whether Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites in a given patient will be resistant or susceptible to artemisinin, the key drug used to treat malaria.…
Check out our animation about malaria drug resistance and genomics
New genome sequencing technologies provide insight into emerging artemisinin-resistance and a novel way to track this public health threat
This blog post first appeared on the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute blog.
Source: Wellcome Trust, 15 Nov 2012. A Wellcome Trust-funded study estimates that around 350 million people living in malaria-endemic countries are deficient in an enzyme that means they can suffer severe complications from…
More than 2 billion people live in malaria-endemic areas outside Africa. A new report from the World Health Organization — the first of its kind — examines the progress and challenges in tackling…
A recent study has found novel vectors of the malaria parasite in Kisii Central District in the highlands of Western Kenya.
The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project set out to identify all the functional elements within the human genome. As a result of this large-scale, global collaboration between 440 researchers in 32 labs,…
Three independent studies undertaken in Papua New Guinea revealed strong associations between the SAO genetic defect (SLC4A1Δ27) and protection against P. vivax malaria in infants and children.
A recent study reports the whole genome sequencing of five P. vivax isolates taken directly from blood samples of infected patients in Cambodia and Madagascar, as well as the Belem strain that is…
Last week, Consortial Project 1 partners published a study exploring the influence of sixty-four malaria candidate SNPs, including the sickle-cell polymorphism (HbS), on severe malaria in a case-control study consisting of over 900…
A recent study investigates the immune status of individuals residing in eight villages across the Moneragala district in Sri Lanka, and the relationship with demographic changes and selected host genetic markers.
Methods developed to enable large-scale analysis of malaria parasite genomes from patient blood samples
MalariaGEN has published a draft consultation document defining a community project on the population genomics of P. falciparum and seeks comments from the malaria research and public health community.
Part of what makes malaria difficult to tackle is its ability to hide from the human immune system. Today, research has been published in the journal Cell Host and Microbe that brings us…
Parasite requires a single receptor to invade human red blood cells
This month has seen the early results from the on-going Phase III clinical trial of malaria vaccine candidate RTS,S/AS01 come through, and they are promising.
Dr Julie Makani wins the Royal Society Pfizer Award
Research published online this week in The Lancet Infectious Diseases highlights the issue of mosquitos becoming resistance to insecticide-treated bed nets.
A human genetic variant associated with an almost 30 percent reduced risk of developing severe malaria has been identified. Scientists from the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM), Hamburg, and Kumasi University,…
A letter titled “Host-mediated regulation of superinfection in malaria” has been published this week on the Nature Medicine website.
Research published today in PLoS Pathogens has confirmed that human Plasmodium knowlesi infections are being passed over from infected macaque monkey populations in Malaysian Borneo, and not transmitted human to human.
In a study funded by the Wellcome Trust, geographers, biologists and statisticians at the University of Oxford, together with colleagues from the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kenya, have produced the first detailed…
The aim of The Human Heredity and Health in Africa Project (H3Africa) is to support African scientists conducting population-based genetic studies, in Africa, of common, non-communicable disorders, for instance heart disease and cancer,…
Researchers working with MalariaGEN have published a new review: “Methodological challenges of genome-wide association analysis in Africa”. The review discusses how genome-wide association (GWA) studies in Africa have the potential to give valuable…
A new MalariaGEN policy paper highlights ways to tailor open access and data sharing policies to fit the goals of research done in developing countries.
MalariaGEN hosted a Symposium ‘Toward Genomic Epidemiology of Malaria: Progress, Challenges, and Potential’ at the Multi-Lateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) Conference in Nairobi on 2 November 2009.
The world’s largest malaria conference opened today with a call for substantial and sustained support for research to guide evidence-based policies and the development of new malaria tools, which together could save countless…
MalariaGEN partners across 14 malaria-endemic countries have worked with local communities to recruit over 50,000 samples in the last 4 years. Each partner has designed and implemented their own local study into the…
The National Academy of Pharmacy of France has awarded Dr Abdoulaye Djimdé its “Prix de la Pharmacie Francophone”. Dr Djimdé is a research scientist from the Malaria Research and Training Center (MRTC), University…
Malaria study points the way forward for genetic studies of disease in Africa
Our first paper was published in Nature on 11 December 2008. The commentary article, A global network for investigating the genomic epidemiology of malaria, explores how we’ve used a consortial approach to overcome…
A keystone of MalariaGEN’s scientific programme is to use genome-wide association (GWA) analysis to discover genes that determine resistance to severe malaria. This is the focus of Consortial Project 1, which includes study…