Malaria Genomic Epidemiology Journal Club 2024 - Olivo Miotto
Could genetic adaptations of Plasmodium falciparum provide a new perspective into the evolution and transmission of malaria parasites in Africa?
Professor Olivo Miotto's work focuses on translating the massive quantities of data produced by sequencing thousands of genomes into meaningful knowledge about the epidemiology of P. falciparum.
Based in Bangkok, he runs GenRe-Mekong, a genetic surveillance project in collaboration with the National Malaria Control Programmes in the Greater Mekong Subregion. The project provides public health bodies with actionable knowledge about drug resistant strains, to inform decision-making and interventions.
In a new pre-print, Olivo and colleagues identify a unique cluster of P. falciparum parasites in Africa by analysing malaria parasite genomes available on the MalariaGEN Pf7 data resource. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.11...
The results reveal interesting adaptations and shared genetic components among these parasites, which could be linked with currently unknown factors in their epidemiological environments. This reshapes our understanding of how the malaria parasite evolves and transmits across Africa.
