NZ Scientists Help Crack Malaria Vaccine

A team of researchers from Victoria University of Wellington’s Ferrier Research Institute, the Malaghan Institute and the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Australia have created a new malaria vaccine believed to be a world-first as it could provide long-lasting protection and be used on people who’ve already been exposed to the disease, Alexa Cook reports for Newshub.

The mRNA-based vaccine can effectively target and stimulate protective immune cell responses against the malaria-causing parasite, Cook writes.

They’ve analysed years of previous research on different vaccine technologies to produce a vaccine that targets the liver, where the malaria parasite develops.

“So it prevents the parasite from escaping the liver. If you prevent the parasite from escaping the liver, you can block infection. That’s what’s special about it and that’s what’s unique about it,” Professor Gavin Painter from the Ferrier Institute said.

Painter said it’s an exciting development.

Original article by Alexa Cook, Newshub, July 21, 2023.

Photo by Eugene Chystiakov.