Tag Archives: Malaria

Malaria and Mosquito Genes Decoded

Last week saw the simultaneous publishing of the genomes of both the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum and the mosquito that transmits the most cases of the disease, Anopheles gambiae. The decoding of the genomes for these species will give researchers … Continue reading

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Kenya and Uganda to Test Malaria Early Warning System

British researchers are helping Kenya and Uganda put together an early warning system that should allow medical authorities in those countries to react quicker and head off possible malaria outbreaks. Over a million people die every year from malaria related … Continue reading

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Good News for Africa Malaria Day

Africa recently marked its second annual Africa Malaria Day designed to highlight efforts at controlling the deadly disease. Almost one million people die from malaria-related complications annually; 90 percent of those victims are in Africa. Despite the horrific figures, reports … Continue reading

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Dictators, Development and Malaria

North and South Korea offer a nice look at the real sources of underdevelopment in Third World countries. That distinction was recently highlighted with word from the World Health Organization that North Korea has been experiencing a malaria epidemic over … Continue reading

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Researchers Closing in on the Malaria Genome

Researchers are making good headway in a project began in 1996 to sequence Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest strain of malaria. Malcolm Gardner of The Institute of Genomic Research in Rockville, Maryland, told The Scientist, “I would say we have over … Continue reading

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Is the World Health Organization Part of the Problem?

Brian Doherty has an excellent, scathing attack on the World Health Organization for the January 2002 issue of Reason which argues that the organization is a bureaucratic nightmare more interested in self-preservation than actually doing something about improving health in … Continue reading

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Goats as Malaria Vaccine Factories

So called “farmaceuticals” — genetically engineered animals that express drugs in their milk — has long been predicted as a likely eventual outcome of biotechnology efforts and that possibility took a big step forward with the recent announcement of initial … Continue reading

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Would a Worldwide Ban on DDT Increase the Risk of Malaria?

Rich nations such as the United States have long been pushing for a worldwide ban on DDT and are currently negotiating to ban the chemical along with 12 other so-called persistent organochloric pollutants. But DDT is still the most effective … Continue reading

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Herbal Remedy Seems to Conquer Malaria

The BBC recently ran an interesting look at a Wellcome Trust project that managed to reduce malaria rates in refugee camps on the Burmese/Thailand border by as much as 90 percent — all by using a Chinese herb. NIck White, … Continue reading

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Novartis Offers Cheap Anti-Malarial to Developing World

Pharmaceutical companies took a beating over the issue over of whether they should provide cheap anti-AIDS drugs to the developing world, but Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis is stepping to the plate to offer an extremely effective anti-malarial drug at a … Continue reading

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