GENETICS OF DRUG RESISTANCE, ANTIGENIC VARIATION AND DIS

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The Malaria Genetics Section of the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases focuses on Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes the most severe form of human malaria. Our research includes the following projects: * Identification and characterization of the factors involved in responses to such major antimalarial drugs as chloroquine and quinine. * Mapping of loci that determine P. falciparum infectivity in the Aotus malaria model. * Dissection of the gene controls that regulate expression of var genes responsible for antigenic variation and evasion of the host immune system. * Field and laboratory investigations of the protection conferred by hemoglobins C and S against the severe forms of falciparum malaria. The work in these projects incorporates strategies of linkage mapping, population surveys, gene manipulation, and gene product analysis. The findings provide fundamental biological information for the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and control measures against the disease.