Scientists Find Malaria Vaccine from Algae
Researchers at University of California have produced a malarial vaccine candidate from algae that prevents the transmission of the parasite from host to mosquito.
They introduced Pfs25 (a protein found on the surface of malaria parasite’s reproductive cells) gene, into the algae to produce the properly folded Pfs25 protein. Antibodies against the Pfs25 protein can halt the parasite’s life cycle in the mosquito, once it feeds on the malaria- infected blood meal, and thus block the transmission of the parasite from mosquito to another host.