The research was conducted by Dr Stephen Hoffman, director of the Malaria Programme at the US Naval Medical Research Institute. Dr Hoffman said the new type of vaccine prompts cells in the body to use the foreign DNA information to produce a neutralised strain of the virus. This enables the body to recognise and fight an infectious strain of the virus if it invades, he said. The World Health Organisation estimates there are 300 million to 500 million cases of malaria each year. Mosquitoes with parasites in their bellies pass the disease on to humans through their saliva.
Traditional vaccines are expensive and take a long time to produce.
They use full-grown but weakened strands of a virus to stimulate the body's immune response. Dr Hoffman said that DNA-based vaccines are easier and cheaper to produce. Stable vaccine DNA vaccines are much more stable, allowing them to be easily transported, especially to poorer countries without advanced laboratory facilities, he said. Another benefit of DNA vaccination, Dr Hoffman said, was that traditional live vaccines, such as the polio vaccine, can in rare cases cause people to contract the disease they were trying to prevent. DNA cannot become infective.