Review Article J Mol Genet Med (December 2005), 1(2), 76-86 doi: jmgm Published online: 30 December 2005 Full Text: (html | pdf ~370kb | refs) Malaria epidemiology: Insight from the genome of the malaria parasite Alyssa E Barry Department of Medical Parasitology, New York University School of Medicine, 341 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010, USA Correspondence to: Alyssa E Barry, Email:alyssa.barry@med.nyu.edu, Tel: +1 212 2636765, Fax: +1 212 2638116 Received: 23 November 2005, Revised: 21 December 2005, Accepted: 23 December 2005 © Copyright The Author ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABSTRACT Malaria continues to be one of the most prevalent human infectious diseases. It is caused by protozoan parasites of the Plasmodium genus that are transmitted from person to person by the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito. Studies of malaria epidemiology have traditionally used the microscope to measure the prevalence of infection within the human population and density of parasites within each human host. This method allows the distinction between species but not individuals within a species. Now there is unlimited access to a complete genome sequence for P. falciparum and several other genomes are almost complete. This genome information has allowed malariologists to examine the molecular epidemiology of malaria using a variety of polymorphic genetic markers. Consequently, pictures are emerging of the genomic diversity, evolution and population genetics of malaria parasites. This review is an account of these studies and their impact on malaria epidemiology. KEYWORDS: Malaria, Plasmodium, epidemiology, genomics, diversity, evolution, population genetics ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Privacy | Disclaimer |