Each year, 300-500 million people become ill with malaria and several million die. Most who die are children under five. 200-300 children die from malaria each hour. Pregnant women and non-immune adults are also severely affected. Families and communities suffer worldwide, as do national and global economies.
Research is under way towards developing a malaria vaccine.
Malaria often strikes people in remote areas of third world countries where it is difficult to receive proper medical care. It is often difficult to deliver vaccines that need to be refrigerated along with the sterile needles and other medical supplies. Individuals eating this transgenic banana would ingest the protein and would synthesize antibodies to the protein. In the future, when the individual is exposed to a malaria parasite, they would already have a built in immunity and not succumb to the disease. This approach eliminates the need for refrigeration and a meticulous sterile environment.