UC Scientists Produce Potential Malarial Vaccine from Algae

Scientists at the University of California (UC) reported that they have successfully developed algae that can produce possible candidates for a vaccine that would prevent the spread of malaria.

Malaria is a notorious disease caused by a bite from a mosquito infected with Plasmodium falciparum. It affects more than 225 million people globally, specifically in tropical and subtropical regions. Expensive antimalarial medications are commercially available but there is no vaccine that offer maximum protection from the disease.

The research team engineered the edible green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, to produce malaria proteins that elicited antibodies against P. falciparum in laboratory mice. This prevented the transmission of malaria. The initial proof-of-principle experiment results are published in PLos One journal.

Read the news article at http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressreleases/uc_san_diego_biologists_produce_potential_malarial_vaccine_from_algae/ and the research article at http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0037179.