Scientists have discovered a new target in their fight against the devastating global disease ‘malaria’ thanks to the discovery of a new protein involved in the parasite’s life cycle.

The research has uncovered a vital player in the sexual phase of the malaria parasite’s reproduction which could prove an effective target for new treatments to stop the disease in its tracks.

The scientists from The University of Nottingham’s School of Biology, with collaborators from the Universities of Leicester, Oxford, Imperial College London and Leiden in the Netherlands, have just published the results of their work in the journal PLoS Pathogens (: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1002554 ).

Link: www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/pressreleases/2012/february/slamming-the-brakes-on-the-malaria-life-cycle.aspx