Researchers move closer to disrupting malaria parasite development

Scientists undertaking a “Herculean study” in malaria parasite development recently announced that they are getting closer to disrupting the lifecycle of the parasite—one of the world’s deadliest diseases. Researchers from the University of Nottingham’s School of Life Sciences, Medical Research Council’s National Institute for Medical Research (MRC-NIMR), Oxford University, Imperial College and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia examined the roles played by the 30 protein phosphatases and 72 kinases—enzymes that switch on the proteins—as the malaria parasite develops in the human body and in the mosquito gut, Science Daily reports. Rita Tewari, a scientist at the University of Nottingham, said the study identifies how protein phosphatases regulate parasite development. According to Tewari, if scientists can discover which proteins are essential for malaria development, they may be able to target the proteins with anti-malarial drugs. “Interestingly, out of the [14] genes that could be knocked out, six were found...