Advances in malaria genomics since MIM Arusha, 2002

The promise of new interventions against malaria and other infectious diseases of global health importance derived from pathogen genomic sequence data may only be realized through the coordinated effort of genomic and post-genomics scientists, vaccine and drug developers along with lab- and field-based investigators. With the availability of the Plasmodium falciparum genome and the genomes of related species, post-genomics research can now be applied to the development of new interventions against malaria and may provide a more complete understanding of complex parasite biology. The vast amount of data that are generated through these new approaches must be organized, assembled and made accessible in a useful manner. By establishing a set of “credentials” for each gene in the genome, which captures information about gene expression, diversity, function and other information, the time and resources needed to test and evaluate candidate drugs and vaccines can be substantially reduced and a more complete picture of parasite biology can be created.