Genome discoveries pave way for malaria vaccines

Vaccines to eradicate malaria came a step closer yesterday as scientists unveiled the genomes of the parasite that causes the disease and the mosquito that transmits it.

Together with information extracted from the human genome, researchers will now seek ways to use the knowledge to try to find new treatments, targets and strategies to deal with the disease, which kills up to 2.7 million people every year.

They said it would take money and commitment from pharmaceutical companies and governments, and that it would not be an overnight solution.

Brian Greenwood, professor of tropical medicine at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "Attempts to control malaria with drugs and insecticides are in danger of failing because of the problems of resistance, and there is no immediate prospect of a vaccine. It will be a while before the knowledge provided by the projects is translated into practical tools but this will happen and malaria will finally be brought under control."

Robert Sinden, professor of parasite cell biology at Imperial College London, who contributed to the parasite research, said: "This is a fantastic step forward but the real challenge now is for governments and pharmaceutical companies to show that they are prepared to invest the money to control the disease."

The papers detailing the genomes of the parasite Plasmodium falciparum and the the mosquito Anopheles gambiae, appear this week in the journals Nature and Science.

Dr Neil Hall, who led the team at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, which sequenced most of the parasite genome, said: "The amount of data involved was phenomenal.

"It was a bit like tearing up half a dozen Bibles, scattering the pieces over a playing field then trying to put them together again."