Parasite Protection

Around the world, scientists tackle malaria by killing the mosquitos which spread the disease or protecting humans from bites – but what about those already infected? Antimalarial drugs aim to destroy parasites already circulating in the body, but also risk encouraging them to mutate and adapt. Yet there may be another way. Here lattice light-sheet microscopy uses gentle patterns of light to illuminate malarial parasites (blue) as they invade a cheerful-looking human blood cell (purple), possibly solving a long-term mystery. The protective bubble or vacuole that envelops the parasite as it invades is actually a chunk of membrane ripped away from the blood cell itself. A new generation of antimalarial medications might target molecules used in forming these vacuoles, stunting the parasite’s spread without giving it cause to mutate.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

Website

• Video from work by Niall D. Geoghegan and Cindy Evelyn, and colleagues
• The Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia
• Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in Nature Communications, June 2021