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A team of scientists at the University of Nottingham, have uncovered how the parasite that causes malaria orchestrates their cell division—which is key in enabling the parasite to transmit this deadly disease.

In a new paper, published in PLOS Biology, a team of scientists at the university, along with collaborators across the globe, show how they have uncovered key regulators of how malaria parasites manage their cell division.

Malaria is a major public health issue in many developing parts of the world. It is transmitted by female mosquitoes which ingest the parasites when they bite. Malaria was responsible for approximately 608,000 deaths in 2022 (WHO) and is caused by a single-celled parasite termed Plasmodium, that invades the liver and red blood cells.

This new research is led by Professor Rita Tewari from the School of Life Sciences at the university and Professor Mathieu Brochet at the University of Geneva. It aims to unravel the atypical mode of multiplication of the malaria parasite with particular focus on the developmental stages of the parasite within the mosquito in the hope of finding new therapeutic targets.

Professor Tewari said, "It is clear by looking at COVID-19, that controlling the transmission of parasites is equally crucial in addition to controlling the disease. Hence, to have fundamental knowledge of how the parasite succeeds to divide within the mosquito and what switches it uses will help to design intervention targets.

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