'Protein microarrays' may reveal new weapons against malaria
A new research technology is revealing how humans develop immunity to malaria, and could assist programs aimed at eradicating this parasitic disease. Dr Alyssa Barry from Walter & Eliza Hall Institutes's infection and immunity division is using 'protein microarray' technology to screen human bloody serum samples for immunity to proteins produced by the malaria-causing Plasmodium falciparum parasite. Her research, whcih determines a person's immunity to hundreds of proteins simultaneously, has been published in the journal Molecular and Cellular Proteomics this month. Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that affects more than 500 million people each year. It causes more than one million deaths, mostly in children under five years of age. Dr Barry is investigating how humans living in counties where malaria is prevalent, such as Papua New Guinea, establish immunity that protects them from developing malaria. Read the full release.