SCIENTISTS have now found a way to render "killer" malaria viruses impotent.Researchers based in the Instituteof Molecular Medicine at OxfordUniversity and other research bodiesin the us have identified a familyof genes which are thought to beresponsible for people dying from the disease.
There are 4 types of malaria viruses,but only I is fatal. This lethal malarialparasite manipulates blood cells - bothmaking them sticky and stopping anti-bodies from destroying them. As a resulttfie infected blood cells stick to theinsides of the small blood vessels oforgans in the body, particularly thebrain. trhe patient goes into coma, andeventu ally dies.
The researchers took patqsites frominfected patients and grew them in laboratories. By extracting DNA from the parasites, they were able to identify thegenes. Armed with this new information, the scieitists hope that it will nowbe their turn to manipulate the parasiteand come up with some new methods of treatment.