A new, comprehensive map of all the genes essential for blood infections in Plasmodium knowlesi (P. knowlesi), a parasite that causes malaria in humans, has been generated by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and colleagues. The map contains the most complete classification of essential genes in any Plasmodium species and can be used to identify druggable parasite targets and mechanisms of drug resistance that can inform the development of new treatments for malaria.
We hope that our findings are a major step for the field of malaria research and control. Emerging drug resistance to the small number of antimalarial drugs is a growing problem. This map will be an invaluable resource to help researchers combat one of the leading causes of infectious disease death around the world.”
Manoj Duraisingh, co-corresponding author, John LaPorte Given Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases
The study will be published Feb. 6, 2025, in Science.
Each year, around 249 million human cases of malaria are caused by a Plasmodium species, resulting in about 608,000 deaths. P. knowlesi is one of several species responsible for human malaria. It is a zoonotic parasite that can be lethal and is an emerging public health problem in Southeast Asia.
The researchers developed a powerful genetic approach in P. knowlesi, known as transposon mutagenesis, to disrupt all of the genes not needed for growth in human red blood cells, thus revealing a map of all of those remaining that were essential for growth. This identified at a genomic scale the molecular requirements for parasites