Assessing the effect of natural selection in malaria parasites.
There are few concepts that have been used across disciplines; one of them is natural selection. The impact that this process has on parasite genetic diversity is reviewed here by discussing examples on drug resistance and vaccine antigens. Emphasis is made on how mechanisms need to be addressed rather than associations, and how such investigations were out of reach of biomedical researchers only a decade ago.
Escalante
Ananias A
AA
Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, Apartado 21827, Caracas 1020-A, Venezuela. Aescalante@cdc.gov
Cornejo
Omar E
OE
Rojas
Ascanio
A
Udhayakumar
Venkatachalam
V
Lal
Altaf A
AA
D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D005075:Biological Evolution; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology*; D017780:Malaria Vaccines / Q000494:pharmacology; D010641:Phenotype; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D012641:Selection, Genetic
D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D017780:Malaria Vaccines