news:scientist produce malaria vaccine from algae

Scientists produce malaria vaccine from algae

A group of researchers from the University of San Diego have had success with the use of algae to produce a vaccine that could prevent transmission of the parasite that causes malaria. A finding that could pave the way for the economic development of a method to protect millions of people worldwide.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by infection with parasites of the genus Plasmodium. It currently affects over 225 million people worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions. The disease causes fever, headaches and coma and death in several cases.

His difficulty is that, although there are a variety of antimalarial drugs too expensive for those traveling to these regions, currently there are no vaccines that offer a high level of protection.

Therefore researchers have sought a solution in the use of algae to produce proteins that create antibodies against Plasmodium and prevent transmission. They themselves say that the difficulty of creating a vaccine against malaria is that it requires a complex production system, with proteins that resemble those made by the parasite. Most require a very expensive process using cultured mammalian cells.

According to Stephen Mayfield, a scientist who led the research:

Malaria is caused by a parasite that produces complex proteins, but for some reason this parasite does not put sugar in these proteins researchers have vaccine without these sugars in bacteria and then tried to retreat into a correct three-dimensional configuration, but that is an expensive proposition and not work very well.

So the researchers looked in protein production with the help of an edible green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii the. The previous study broke new idea, to produce a complex of proteins that protect against malaria parasite through the Chlamydomonas. The reason: the low cost that would produce the protein that inhibits infection.

"It's too expensive to vaccinate millions of people using current technologies."

The first tests developed vaccine against malaria has shown that proteins produced by algae, when injected into laboratory mice produce antibodies that block transmission of malaria.

This paper concludes two things: the proteins that are viable candidates to make vaccine, and that at least now have the opportunity to produce enough of this vaccine and inoculation can think of millions of people.