Immunization Newsbriefs (c) Copyright Information Inc., Bethesda, MD. Brought to you by the National Network for Immunization Information (NNii). Visit NNii's new website at http://www.immunizationinfo.org.

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April 23, 2003

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"British Scientists Claim Breakthrough in Fight Against Malaria"

Agence France Presse (www.afp.com/english/home) (04/22/03)

Researchers at Edinburgh University's Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, working with scientists from the Biotec Institute in Thailand, have identified an element in the genetic makeup of the parasite that causes malaria that enables the disease to quickly become resistant to treatment.  That resistance has made producing a vaccine against malaria very difficult.  The study, published in the journal Nature Structural Biology, focuses on the part of the protein DHFR that changes to protect itself from pyrimethamine, the chemical used to treat the disease. Researchers are hopeful that by isolating this mutating part, new treatments and a vaccine against malaria will be developed.

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