This week there was a promising announcement from one of the world s top malaria research teams, based in Melbourne and Canberra. They identified a gene in the malaria parasite, Plasmodium, which helps it develop resistance to antimalarial drugs.
Plasmodium gets into people via the saliva of a biting mosquito.
The discovery is significant because historically, the parasite s evasiveness has made drug after drug stop working. Dr Alan Cowman headed the research team at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, and the Australian National University. Not only that, we showed that the parasite basically became resistant because it stopped the drug from concentrating in the parasite cell. So that allowed the parasite to grow in higher concentrations of drug without it being killed. It s a bit like wrapping itself in Glad Wrap and stopping the drugs from coming in, but allowing all of the good things that it needs, such as amino acids etc.