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The parasite genome

The grand assault

Nature volume 419, pages 493–494 (2002)Cite this article

A Correction to this article was published on 24 October 2002

The complete genome sequence of the parasite responsible for most of the world's human malaria has been determined. The nature of the genome meant that this was a difficult project, requiring considerable ingenuity.

The parasite Plasmodium falciparum, responsible for most human malaria, is among the most studied pathogens of all time, probably surpassed only by the human immunodeficiency virus and the tuberculosis bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The extent of human suffering caused by malaria and its devastating costs have long been recognized by international bodies, and many initiatives have been taken over the years to try to defeat this insidious microbe1. In 1996, an international consortium of scientists from more than a dozen institutions set out to determine the 23 million base pairs of DNA that make up the organism's genome sequence. Their massive effort — which ended up going well beyond simple sequencing — is reported on pages 498–542 of this issue2,3,4,5,6,7,8. The avowed goal of the project was to search for chinks in the parasite's armour, so that new and effective drugs and vaccines might be developed.

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Figure 1: Some of the genomes sequenced so far.

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  1. Center for Molecular Genetics, University of California, San Diego, 92093-0634, La Jolla, California, USA

    Russell F. Doolittle

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  1. Russell F. Doolittle
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Correspondence to Russell F. Doolittle.

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Doolittle, R. The grand assault. Nature 419, 493–494 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/419493a

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