Sponsored Content
« Anyone Flying This Week? | Main | Chuck Norris Says Vote Huck, Iowa Says, “Yes Sir!” »
November 21, 2007

Stopping malaria at the source

Some researchers at RPI have found what might turn out to be the Rosetta Stone for dealing with malaria.

The team found that humans and the mosquitoes that carry the malaria parasite share the same complex carbohydrate, heparan sulfate. In both humans and mosquitoes, heparan sulfate is a receptor for the malaria parasite, binding to the parasite and giving it quick and easy transport through the body. The team was led by Robert J. Linhardt, the Ann and John H. Broadbent Jr. ’59 Senior Constellation Professor of Biocatalysis and Metabolic Engineering at Rensselaer.

“The discovery allows us to think differently about preventing the disease,” Linhardt said. “If we can stop heparan sulfate from binding to the parasite in mosquitoes, we will not just be treating the disease, we will be stopping its spread completely.”

Malaria parasites are extremely finicky about their hosts, Linhardt explained. Birds, rodents, humans, and primates all can be infected with malaria, but each species is infected by a different species of mosquito — and each of those mosquitoes is infected by a different malaria parasite. In other words, there needs to be a perfect match at the molecular basis for malaria to spread from one species to another, Linhardt said. Researchers have long understood this deadly partnership, but the molecular basis for the match had never been determined.

“The discovery marks a paradigm shift in stopping malaria,” Linhardt said “Now, we can work to develop an environmentally safe, inexpensive way to block infection in mosquitoes and not have to worry about drug side effects in humans

Rather than building bridges to nowhere, and wasting billions on pork laden water bills, maybe we should be throwing a few more bucks at these guys. They seem to have a clue, which is more than I can say for congress.

The anti-DDT crowd would get behind this too...then again maybe not. Greenies, being essentially closet Luddites, tend to eschew technology based solutions. This might smack just a bit too much of science for them.


digg this
posted by Purp at 11:34 AM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
Grouchy's Brother: "Nothing says "love is love" quite like bomb threat ..."

vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion: "167 Here ya go Cleanse thine ears youtu.be/6o ..."

Romeo13: "165 It also means you never have to say you're sor ..."

Eromero: "Now babyshark I've never heard. No problemo. ..."

Tonypete: "Thanks a lot. For years Love is a Battlefield was ..."

Eromero: "163 " I want to know what love is. Posted by: Dr. ..."

Wesley Crusher: "[i]Rodents of unusual size and strength. Posted b ..."

Tonypete: "It also means you never have to say you're sorry. ..."

Diogenes: " A many splendored thing. Posted by: Tuna at May ..."

vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion: "" I want to know what love is. Posted by: Dr. Var ..."

Kindltot: ""A bulldog eating mayonnaise" is not the correct ..."

Dr. Varno: "A many splendored thing. Posted by: Tuna at May 2 ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64