New malarial vaccine developed

New malarial vaccine developed
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Hyderabad, Dec 28: Researchers at the centre for DNA fingerprinting and diagnostics (CDFD) here have developed a new malarial vaccine that targets multiple sites of the vector causing malaria and plans were being finalised for the first phase of human trials.

The vaccine against malaria was currently undergoing animal trials on monkey models in the United States, CDFD director Dr Sayed E Hasnian, told reporters here recently. Unlike other vaccines that are in the pipeline, the Indian version targets multiple sites of the vector causing malaria, he said. A major problem with plasmodium falciparum virus causing malaria is that it quickly changes its `make-up' rendering the vaccine hopeless. What the Indian vaccine would do is to target multiple sites of the vector. If the virus learns to trick the vaccine at one site and initiate a change, the vaccine gets activated at another `weak point' of the vector which gets attacked, Hasnain explained.

``We found in malaria-endemic areas that some people do not fallprey to the malaria virus. The body has a natural mechanism to fight the virus. This happens because the body's immune system releases specific proteins that target the weak spots of the vector''+ the CDFD director said. Researchers then constructed a synthetic gene that encodes this mechanism of multiple layer attack system and prepared a vaccine model, he said.