Malaria affects over 220 million people each year. Scientists try to find ways to eradicate malaria. The distribution of insect nets and insecticides, malaria vaccines and genetic engineering might help us to fight malaria!

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Malaria is caused by five types of a parasite called Plasmodium. More serious forms of malaria are usually caused by Plasmodium falciparum which is contracted by mosquitos (Anopheles). Initially, plasmodium infects the liver where it causes damages. Plasmodium then attacks red blood cells and symtpoms of malaria appear. Malaria patients suffer from fever, a headache but in more severe cases can experience strokes or organ failure.
Fortunately, there are drugs for malaria. These include chloroquine phosphate, Malarone or artemisinin-based combination therapies. Nonetheless, malaria is a major concern worldwide. Each year, over 220 million people suffer from malaria. In order to eradicate malaria, we can use different strategies. We can distribute insecticides (DDT, dieldrin, malathion) or insect nets. Scientists are also working on malaria vaccines. Two malaria vaccines might help to eradicate malaria. One malaria vaccine is called RTS,S/AS01 (efficiency 39%), another malaria vaccine has been developed by the University of Oxford (efficiency 77% in smaller studies). Lastly, we can also use genetic engineering to eradicate malaria. The idea is to genetically modifiy mosquitoes by CRISPR Cas9 to destroy plasmodium or reduce mosquito populations. Let's hope that we can eradicate malaria in the next months!

00:00--3:49 How Malaria Makes us Sick
3:49-4:37 Why We Need to Stop Malaria
4:37-5:06 Insecticides and Nets
5:06-7:09 Malaria Vaccines
7:09-9:38 Genetically-Modified Mosquitoes

For your reading:
Hoermann, Astrid, et al. "Converting endogenous genes of the malaria mosquito into simple non-autonomous gene drives for population replacement." Elife 10 (2021): e58791.
Waltz, E. (2021). First genetically modified mosquitoes released in the United States. Nature, 593(7858), 175-176.
Coats, M. T. (2016). Combating Malaria: Where do We Stand?. Journal of infectious disease and therapy, 4(1).
Beeson, James G., et al. "Challenges and strategies for developing efficacious and long-lasting malaria vaccines." Science translational medicine 11.474 (2019).
Wadman, Meredith. "Malaria vaccine achieves striking early success." (2021): 448-448.

Images:
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Small pox by National Museum of Health and Medicine, CC BY 2.0
Organic cells by Beachfront, CC BY 3.0
Videos: The following videos were derived from Videvo, videvo.net:
Charts, Scientist Recording, Young Doctor, Petri Dish, Female Doctor, Project Management, Heart Rate, Microscope, Mosquito

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Outro: Brain Trust (Free)

About Clemens Steinek:
CLEMENS STEINEK is a PhD student/youtuber (LifeLabLearner) who is currently conducting stem cell research in Germany.

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