Scientists block malaria in animal tests

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, June 11 (UPI) -- Danish and U.S. scientists say they've found disrupting the potassium channel of the malaria parasite prevents it from forming in mosquitoes.

The University of Copenhagen and Johns Hopkins University researchers said by genetically altering the malaria parasite through gene knockout technology, they prevented the parasite from going through the normal stages of its life cycle and developing an occyst, which spawns new infectious parasites.

"As it is exclusively the parasites from these oocysts that can infect new individuals, we were able to prevent the disease from being transmitted to the animals in our tests," said Assistant Professor, Peter Ellekvist of the University of Copenhagen.

The researchers said they will now try to determine whether parasites with non-functioning potassium channels react differently to anti-malaria drugs. If that's true, it would allow the scientists to break the second phase of the infection cycle and prevent the asexual reproduction of malaria parasites that have already gained access to the human body.

The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.