Population Genetics of Human Malaria Parasites
Deirdre A. Joy
from: Microbial Population Genetics (Edited by: Jianping Xu). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2010)
Abstract
Genetic diversity, population structure, and evolutionary history of malaria parasites are among the key factors that will influence our ability to identify genes contributing to drug resistance, parasite development, and disease pathogenesis. These factors also have an impact on vaccine and drug development, parasite source tracking, as well as the formulation of other disease prevention and control measures. For example, a highly polymorphic parasite population will contain ample genetic diversity capable of generating drug resistance genotypes at an accelerated rate; while the presence of homogeneous parasite populations should aid in the development of an effective malaria vaccine. Malaria research in the post-genomic era offers many new tools for use in population genetics analyses read more ...
