| Description |
1 online resource (xv, 372 pages) : illustrations |
|
text file |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-358) and index. |
| Summary |
The year 2012 marks the tenth anniversary of the announcement of the genome sequence of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum and that of its mosquito vector Anopheles. The genome sequences were a result of the Plasmodium falciparum Genome Project. This book covers in detail the biology of malaria parasites and the mosquitoes that transmit the disease, how the Genome Projects came into being, the people who created them, and the cadre of scientists who are attempting to see the promise of the Projects realized. The promise was: a more complete understanding of the genes of the parasite (and its vector) would provide a rational basis for the development of antimalarial drugs and vaccines, allow a better understanding of the regulation of the complex life cycle in the red blood and liver cells of the human, identify the genes the parasite uses to thwart the host immune response and the ways in which the parasite evades cure by drug treatments, as well as leading to more effective measures of control transmission. The hope was that cracking the genetic code of Plasmodium and Anopheles would reveal the biochemical Achilles heel of the parasite and its vector, leading to the development of novel drugs and better methods of control, and by finding the targets of protective immunity could result in the manufacture of effective vaccines. Through a historic approach, this book will allow for those new to the field, or those with insufficient background in the sciences, to have an easier entry point. Even scientists already working in the field may better appreciate how discoveries made in the past can impact the direction of future research. |
| Contents |
Ch. 1. Introduction. Plasmodium discovered. Plasmodium transmitted. Plasmodium in hiding -- ch. 2. Respice: before the genome project -- ch. 3. The nature of Plasmodium falciparum and its genome. A home for the genome. Location, location, location. The malaria genome capers -- ch. 4. Chipping away at the genome. Turning "on", turning "off". Evasion -- ch. 5. The importance of import -- ch. 6. Remodeling the genome's home -- ch. 7. Getting on the inside -- ch. 8. The great escape -- ch. 9. The neglected malaria, Plasmodium vivax. Resistance. Secrets hidden in the genome -- ch. 10. The Anopheles genome and transmission control. Making mosquitoes immune. Making mosquitoes insecticide resistant. Replacement and/or reduction -- ch. 11. The monkey's tale -- ch. 12. A not so sweet solution. Isoenzymes, the Achilles' heels of Plasmodium. Tackling the Krebs "cycle" -- ch. 13. To search and find. Rapid diagnostic tests. Nucleic acid-based tests. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification -- ch. 14. The elusive vaccines. Antigens before the genome. Two blood-stage vaccine candidates. The road to merozoite surface protein. The road to apical membrane antigen 1. A failed promise, SPf66. Transmission-blocking vaccines. The sporozoite vaccine revisited. Development of the pre-blood-stage vaccine, RTS, S. Back to the future. Learning from the liver. Vaccine approaches before sequencing the genome. Vaccine approaches after sequencing the genome -- ch. 15. New medicines, old problems. The old problem of resistance. Chloroquine. Resistance to anti-folate drugs. Mefloquine and multidrug resistance. The fall of mefloquine. Atovaquone. Artemisia to artemisinins -- ch. 16. Prospice: looking to the future. |
| Local Note |
eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America |
| Subject |
Plasmodium falciparum.
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Plasmodium falciparum. |
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Malaria.
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Malaria. |
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Malaria -- genetics. |
| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
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| Added Author |
Sherman, Irwin W.
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| Other Form: |
Print version: 9786613906007 |
| ISBN |
1848169035 |
|
9781848169036 |
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9781848169043 (electronic book) |
|
1848169043 (electronic book) |
|
1283593556 |
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9781283593557 |
| Standard No. |
9786613906007 |
|
