Malaria control in the post-genomic era
Mercereau-Puijalon, O.
Medecine Tropicale Revue du Corps de Sante Colonial 63(3): 241-244
2003
ISSN/ISBN: 0025-682X PMID: 14579459 Document Number: 563807
With the publication of articles on the genomic sequence of Plasmodium falciparum and P. yoelii following articles on the genomes of Anopheles gambiae, mice and man, malariology stepped into a new era. Major findings are that nearly 60% of the Plasmodium genome has no functional attribution and that a high proportion of P. falciparum sequences have no counterpart in P. yoelii. It will now be possible to explore specific differences within the genus Plasmodium and thus the relevance of animal models. New avenues of research have been opened for drug discovery, vaccine development, pathogenesis, resistance, population biology studies and genetic exchanges within field populations. To exploit this mass of new data for the development of new control methods, a rational approach to functional genomics and integrative biology is required.