Developing a Transposon-based Toolkit for Genetic Analysis of Malaria Parasites

疟疾是人类死亡和疾病的主要原因，每年造成4亿至6亿例临床病例， 疟疾和2-3百万人死亡。控制和治疗疟疾的传统措施越来越多， 因此，迫切需要开发新的药物和疫苗。基因组研究 和其他高科技的进步已经产生了大量关于疟疾寄生虫的信息， 用于疟原虫基因组功能分析的信息受到能力有限的阻碍， 基因操控疟疾寄生虫我们正在开发高通量全基因组技术 使用有效的基于转座子的寄生虫突变筛选方法 转型我们建议开发这种系统，用于疟原虫的大规模转座子诱变 恶性疟原虫的长期目标是提高我们对生物学遗传基础的理解， 疟疾寄生虫，并大大加快了开发新疗法的努力。

Malaria is a leading cause of human death and illness, causing each year 400-600 million cases of clinical malaria and 2-3 million deaths. Traditional measures to control and cure malaria are becoming increasingly neffective, and there is an urgent need for the development of new drugs and vaccines. Genomic studies and other hi-tech advances have produced a wealth of information about malaria parasites, yet using this information for functional analysis of the Plasmodium genome is hindered by a limited capability to genetically manipulate malaria parasites. We are developing technology for high throughput whole-genome mutagenesis screening of malaria parasites, using an efficient transposon-based method for parasite transformation. We propose developing this system for large-scale transposon mutagenesis of Plasmodium falciparum with the long-term goal of enhancing our understanding the genetic basis of the biology the malaria parasite, and greatly accelerating efforts to develop new therapies.