Sydney Uni Breakthrough in Malaria Treatment |
Sydney University scientists, through their discovery of an alga, may have discovered the key to treating diseases attributed to debilitating and killing millions each year.
The alga, isolated from a coral in Sydney harbour, resembles any one of small algae commonly referred to as plankton. Molecular analysis, howe'ver, has proven it to be related to a group of parasitic organisms that include Cryptosporidium, Toxoplasma and Plasmodium, the agent of malaria.
These parasites contain a tiny relict of what was once a chloroplast - the subcellular organelle that, in plants and algae, photosynthesizes to produce carbohydrates from sunlight and water.
That chloroplast was found in these parasites indicates they are related to a group of single-celled algae known as dinoflagellates, often found in coral cells in tropical waters such as the Great Barrier Reef.
"Theoretically, knowing how dinoflagellates lost their ability to photosynthesize and become parasites could help us understand how malaria and other parasites evolved, but the problem is the gulf between the two types of organisms is huge,"said Associate Professor Dee Carter, Head of Microbiology in the Faculty of Medicine.
It is believed the alga, which is photosynthetic like dinoflagellates but is much more closely related to the parasites, is the missing link in parasite evolution which will help find and test new drugs against malaria and the other parasites, which remain among the most difficult diseases to treat.
❊ Web Links ❊
➼ Sydney Uni Breakthrough in Malaria Treatment
➼ www.who.int
➼ www.usyd.edu.au
➼ www.malaria.org
➼ www.malariacontrol.net
➼ www.doctorswithoutborders.org
➼ en.wikipedia.org
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