Researchers have found a new genetic ‘barcode’ for malaria parasites, which could be used to track and contain the spread of the disease, reports [s]Health-Canal[/s]. Malaria kills around 600,000 people per year, and increased population mobility through international air travel carries risks of re-introducing parasites to elimination areas and dispersing drug-resistant varieties to new regions. The [b]London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine[/b] researchers found a highly predictive barcode in the genetic sequence of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which can be used to identify the geographic origin of a parasite from a blood sample and monitor its spread.
[link url=http://www.healthcanal.com/genetics-birth-defects/51989-genetic-barcode-for-malaria-could-help-contain-outbreaks.html]Full Health-Canal report[/link]
[link url=http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140613/ncomms5052/full/ncomms5052.html]Nature Communications abstract[/link]