Malaria data opened up to combat drug resistance
A malaria microscopy technicians training session. Malaria remains a major global health problem, with an estimated 229 million cases and 409,000 deaths in 2019, according to the WHO. Copyright: Richard Nyberg/USAID, (CC BY-NC 2.0).
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Data has been made ‘analysis ready’ for those without genetics background
Experts say the resource will greatly assist drug-resistance surveillance
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The race is on. Vaccines against the virus that causes Covid-19 are needling into shoulders around the world, the tip-of-the-hypodermic spear of a year-long scientific triumph. But that protean virus, like all the things that infect humans and make them sick, jukes and dodges.
Virology versus epidemiology. Vaccinology versus evolution. Mutation versus mutation, transmission versus infection, virus versus vaccine. Start! Your! Engines! The past (horrible, tragic, no-good, very bad) year might have seemed like a straightforward battle between scientists and a virus to find new drugs and vaccines. But this wasn’t just a stand-up fight; it was also a bug hunt a subtle push-pull across a dozen different vectors. Viruses aren’t exactly alive, but they still follow the same rulebook as every living thing on Earth: Adapt or die. Understanding those more occult forces how viruses evolve inside us, their hosts, and how t
Feb 28 2021 Read 408 Times
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is providing funding of £3 million will bring together leading mathematical and statistical modellers from seven UK universities to produce rigorous predictions for the COVID-19 pandemic. The ‘Joint UNIversities Pandemic and Epidemiological Research’ (JUNIPER) consortium will develop and using bespoke models to provide predictions and estimates on key questions about the COVID-19 pandemic. These results feed regularly into SPI-M, the modelling group that provides evidence to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and the wider UK government.
The research groups include that of Professor Deirdre Hollingsworth of the Big Data Institute based on the Oxford University Campus. The other universities are the University of Cambridge University of Warwick, University of Exeter, University of Bristol, The University of Manchester and Lancaster University.
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Genome variation data on more than 7,000 malaria parasites from 28 endemic countries is released today (24 February) in
Wellcome Open Research. It has been produced by MalariaGEN, a data-sharing network of groups around the world who are working together to build high-quality data resources for malaria research and disease control.
This open data release represents the world s largest resource of genomic data on malaria parasite evolution and drug resistance. It provides benchmark data on parasite genome variation that is needed in the search for new drugs and vaccines, and in the development of surveillance tools for malaria control and elimination.
Malaria is a major global health problem causing an estimated 409,000 deaths in 2019, with 67 per cent of deaths occurring in children under five years of age . This data resource focuses on Plasmodium falciparum, the species of malaria parasite that is responsible for the most common and deadliest form of the disease.
World s largest resource of genome variation data on malaria parasites released news-medical.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from news-medical.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.