Race on to develop malaria vaccine

AUSSIE researchers are in the race to develop the first vaccine against the world’s most widespread malaria parasite, after uncovering how it invades human blood cells.

The finding comes as more than 1000 scientists and government leaders from 69 countries gather in Melbourne next week for the World Malaria Conference, where they will discuss the latest breakthroughs and challenges in the preventable mosquito-borne disease that infects 216 million and kills more than 440,000 people each year.

This year a team from Melbourne’s Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research found how the deadly parasite Plasmodium vivax latches on to a specific receptor on the surface of human blood cells. The team has now taken a significant step further, using a sophisticated microscope technique to look in detail at how the parasite and blood cell interact.