MALARIA VACCINE

Scientists in Scotland trying to produce a vaccine for malaria have successfully tested a prototype on mice.

Researchers at Edinburgh University found that their vaccine enabled the immune system to produce antibodies which responded to the human malaria parasite.

Mosquito-borne malaria kills around 600,000 people around the world each year and many forms of the disease are becoming resistant to existing drugs.

A successful vaccine is difficult to produce as it must contain proteins which are present in the malaria parasite in order for the immune system to produce antibodies.

Malaria proteins, however, have a complex chemical structure, which is difficult to reproduce in a laboratory.

Despite that, scientists in Edinburgh have managed to grow them inside a tiny single-celled aquatic creature.

It’s hoped the technique will not only make a vaccine possible but easy to produce, as the creature can multiply quickly.

The team leader, Dr David Cavanagh, from the immunology department at Edinburgh University, said:

… There is a desperate need for an effective vaccine which can be made easily in large quantities.

He added:

… Our findings meet this challenge and, with more work, could lead to a vaccine to help those most at risk.