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How Comparative Genomics Can Help Find the Best Treatments for Malaria
Manage episode 445312355 series 3531530
Kandungan disediakan oleh Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Semua kandungan podcast termasuk episod, grafik dan perihalan podcast dimuat naik dan disediakan terus oleh Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health atau rakan kongsi platform podcast mereka. Jika anda percaya seseorang menggunakan karya berhak cipta anda tanpa kebenaran anda, anda boleh mengikuti proses yang digariskan di sini https://ms.player.fm/legal.
'Comparative genomics' helps identify genes that can serve as targets for future drugs and vaccines.
Transcript
Not all parasites are alike. Genetic mutations mean that malaria parasites evolve differently in different regions – and even within the same region. One species thought to be particularly genetically diverse is Plasmodium vivax. It’s the second most common species of malaria, found in South East Asia, South America, and some parts of Africa. In Ethiopia, 20% of malaria cases are thought to be caused by P. vivax. In a new paper, scientists made a ‘reference genome’ from a sample of P. vivax in Ethiopia. They collected blood from an infected patient, extracted the DNA, and ‘read’ its fragments to form the parasite genome. This allows scientists to compare P. vivax samples across regions – and understand their similarities and differences. Importantly, this study of ‘comparative genomics’ ie comparing genomes will help identify the genes that stay the same – the conserved genes – and those which are different - the unique genes -which could serve as targets for future drugs and vaccines.
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About The Podcast
The Johns Hopkins Malaria Minute podcast is produced by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute to highlight impactful malaria research and to share it with the global community.
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