Two big steps in the battle against malaria: gut bacteria, and a “promising compound” -------- First, those gut bacteria of ours are looking more and more like a major new medical frontier. Researchers in Portugal have found that some of those gut bacteria (yet another strain of E. coli) have a protein on their surface that’s also found on the malaria parasite. If you have enough of the bacteria, it can effectively make you immune (or at least less susceptible) to malaria. The research is being published in the journal Cell, and it could lead to a vaccine against malaria. That testing is, not surprisingly, next on the list. Read more about it from the BBC: bbc.in/1648VYG What, not enough anti-malaria news for you? Fine. Check this out: Researchers at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis have found what appears to be a way to get the body’s immune system to treat the malaria parasite as aging red blood cells. (bit.ly/1648Sfr) Essentially, the compound — which has the memorable name of “(+)-SJ733″ — messes with the malaria-infected cells and makes them small and rigid. Like those aging red blood cells. And what does the body do with aging blood sells? Yep. Targets them like a… like a thing you target. Considering that malaria kills half a million people every year, including lots of children, this kind of research could pay off in a big, big way.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 00:04:13 +0000
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