Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2021 Aug 12:10:e72000.
doi: 10.7554/eLife.72000.

A genetic intervention

Colin Sutherland  1 , Didier Menard  2   3
Affiliations
Comment

A genetic intervention

Colin Sutherland et al. Elife. .

Abstract

A tool that analyzes the genome of parasites found in the blood of malaria patients can help inform policy decisions on how best to tackle the rise in drug-resistant infections.

Keywords: Asia; P. falciparum; drug resistance; epidemiology; genetic surveillance; global health; infectious disease; malaria; microbiology.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CS, DM No competing interests declared

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Bridging the gap between research and malaria surveillance in the Greater Mekong Subregion.
Previous research studying the genome of parasites has led to the identification of genetic variants which reduce parasites’ susceptibility to antimalarial drugs (blue box, left). Jacob et al. used this data to create a genetic surveillance platform called GenRe-Mekong, which analyzes the blood samples of malaria patients for these genetic variants (green box, right). Data from this platform is then regularly shared with local research organizations and various National Malaria Control Programs (NMCPs) in the Greater Mekong Subregion, who can use this information to help inform their policy decisions for tackling drug-resistant infections.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

  • Genetic surveillance in the Greater Mekong subregion and South Asia to support malaria control and elimination.
    Jacob CG, Thuy-Nhien N, Mayxay M, Maude RJ, Quang HH, Hongvanthong B, Vanisaveth V, Ngo Duc T, Rekol H, van der Pluijm R, von Seidlein L, Fairhurst R, Nosten F, Hossain MA, Park N, Goodwin S, Ringwald P, Chindavongsa K, Newton P, Ashley E, Phalivong S, Maude R, Leang R, Huch C, Dong LT, Nguyen KT, Nhat TM, Hien TT, Nguyen H, Zdrojewski N, Canavati S, Sayeed AA, Uddin D, Buckee C, Fanello CI, Onyamboko M, Peto T, Tripura R, Amaratunga C, Myint Thu A, Delmas G, Landier J, Parker DM, Chau NH, Lek D, Suon S, Callery J, Jittamala P, Hanboonkunupakarn B, Pukrittayakamee S, Phyo AP, Smithuis F, Lin K, Thant M, Hlaing TM, Satpathi P, Satpathi S, Behera PK, Tripura A, Baidya S, Valecha N, Anvikar AR, Ul Islam A, Faiz A, Kunasol C, Drury E, Kekre M, Ali M, Love K, Rajatileka S, Jeffreys AE, Rowlands K, Hubbart CS, Dhorda M, Vongpromek R, Kotanan N, Wongnak P, Almagro Garcia J, Pearson RD, Ariani CV, Chookajorn T, Malangone C, Nguyen T, Stalker J, Jeffery B, Keatley J, Johnson KJ, Muddyman D, Chan XHS, Sillitoe J, Amato R, Simpson V, Gonçalves S, Rockett K, Day NP, Dondorp AM, Kwiatkowski DP, Miotto O. Jacob CG, et al. Elife. 2021 Aug 10;10:e62997. doi: 10.7554/eLife.62997. Elife. 2021. PMID: 34372970 Free PMC article.

References

    1. Amato R, Pearson RD, Almagro-Garcia J, Amaratunga C, Lim P, Suon S, Sreng S, Drury E, Stalker J, Miotto O, Fairhurst RM, Kwiatkowski DP. Origins of the current outbreak of multidrug-resistant malaria in Southeast Asia: a retrospective genetic study. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 2018;18:337–345. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(18)30068-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ariey F, Witkowski B, Amaratunga C, Beghain J, Langlois AC, Khim N, Kim S, Duru V, Bouchier C, Ma L, Lim P, Leang R, Duong S, Sreng S, Suon S, Chuor CM, Bout DM, Ménard S, Rogers WO, Genton B, Fandeur T, Miotto O, Ringwald P, Le Bras J, Berry A, Barale JC, Fairhurst RM, Benoit-Vical F, Mercereau-Puijalon O, Ménard D. A molecular marker of artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Nature. 2014;505:50–55. doi: 10.1038/nature12876. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Blasco B, Leroy D, Fidock DA. Antimalarial drug resistance: linking Plasmodium falciparum parasite biology to the clinic. Nature Medicine. 2017;23:917–928. doi: 10.1038/nm.4381. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cheeseman IH, Miller BA, Nair S, Nkhoma S, Tan A, Tan JC, Al Saai S, Phyo AP, Moo CL, Lwin KM, McGready R, Ashley E, Imwong M, Stepniewska K, Yi P, Dondorp AM, Mayxay M, Newton PN, White NJ, Nosten F, Ferdig MT, Anderson TJ. A major genome region underlying artemisinin resistance in malaria. Science. 2012;336:79–82. doi: 10.1126/science.1215966. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dondorp AM, Nosten F, Yi P, Das D, Phyo AP, Tarning J, Lwin KM, Ariey F, Hanpithakpong W, Lee SJ, Ringwald P, Silamut K, Imwong M, Chotivanich K, Lim P, Herdman T, An SS, Yeung S, Singhasivanon P, Day NP, Lindegardh N, Socheat D, White NJ. Artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum malaria. New England Journal of Medicine. 2009;361:455–467. doi: 10.1128/microbiolspec.EI10-0013-2016. - DOI - PMC - PubMed