Malaria vaccine trials appear successful, study reports

A genetically-engineered form of malaria has been proven as a successful vaccine that could potentially save millions of lives, according to new human trials. Ten human subjects were subjected to the vaccine, called PfSPZ, through the bites from as many as 200 mosquitoes. None of the volunteers developed malaria – and they showed they had developed antibodies due to the attenuated form of the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, according to the paper in Science Translational Medicine. The hurdle of creating safe forms of the germ that could provoke the immune response – while not conferring disease – was achieved, after years of research, according to the scientists at the Center for Infectious Disease Research in Seattle who conducted the trials. The vaccine was developed by the Maryland-based company Sanaria. They deleted three genes in the parasite, which were targeted to provoke the immune system while stopping development of the parasite at its earliest stages, before...