Strategies to Disable Hypermutagenesis in Malaria Parasites

To fight emergence of drug and vaccine resistance in rapidly evolving parasites, Pradipsinh K. Rathod of the University of Washington in the U.S. will identify the parts of the malaria genome which contribute to rapid increases in mutations, and will screen for small molecules that inhibit these mechanisms. This project's Phase I research demonstrated that hypermutagenesis does play a strong role in the development of drug resistance. In Phase II, Rathod's team is continuing to isolate the genetic drivers of hypermutagenesis with the aim of developing a way to disable the process and improve success rates of anti-malarial drugs.