The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Scientists find big chink in malaria’s armour Posted: 13 Nov 2011 02:31 AM PST  Scientists say they have discovered a unique microscopic channel through which malaria parasites must pass to infect red blood cells, a finding that will help create a vaccine. – shutterstock.com The doorway mechanism is common to all known strains of the deadliest mosquito-borne pathogen, Plasmodium falciparum, which means that a future vaccine could in theory work against all of them, according to the study published in the journal Nature. The death toll from malaria has declined by a fifth over the last decade, but the disease still claims some 800,000 lives every year, mostly children under five in sub-Saharan Africa. "Our findings were unexpected and have completely changed the way in which we view the invasion process," said Gavin Wright of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the study's senior co-author. The breakthrough "seems to have revealed an Achilles' heel in the way the parasite invades our red blood cells." Up to now, scientists assumed that P. falciparum had several options for piercing the defences of blood cells. But in experiments, Wright and colleagues showed that intrusion depends on the interaction between a specific molecule on the parasite, called a ligand, and a specific receptor on the blood cell. Blocking this interaction repels the pathogen's attempt to breach the cell's protective wall, they found. "By identifying a single receptor that appears to be essential for parasites to invade human red blood cells, we have also identified an obvious and very exciting focus for vaccine development," said co-author Julian Rayner, also from the Sanger Institute. Early results from clinical trials in Africa showed that the world's first malaria vaccine, reported in a study last month, cut infection rates by roughly half. The vaccine, made by the British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, works by triggering the immune system. "These reports are encouraging," said Adrian Hill, a researcher at Oxford's Jenner Institute. "But in the future more effective vaccines will be needed if malaria is ever to be eradicated." Hill added: "The discovery of a single receptor that can be targeted to stop the parasite infecting red blood cells offers the hope of a far more effective solution." – AFP Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Tourists to be banned from Dutch cannabis cafes Posted: 13 Nov 2011 12:02 AM PST  Coffee shop bouncer Bryan (R) stands outside the shop 'Liberty Two' on November 19, 2008 in Rosendaal, Brabant. Next year; stricter laws regarding coffee shops will come into effect to curb drug tourism. – AFP pic The centre-right government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte has since September 2010 been weighing a "cannabis card", reserved for nationals and obligatory when visiting one of the country's 670 licenced coffee shops. "The measure will come into force for the (southern) provinces of Limburg, North-Brabant and Zeeland, the provinces most affected by drug tourism, on January 1," Justice Ministry spokeswoman Charlotte Menten said. Under the new policy, which some have warned could drastically curb tourism revenues, licenced coffee shops will be considered private clubs with a maximum of 2,000 members limited to Dutch residents who are older than 18. Menten said the measures would come into force in the rest of the country in January 2013. The policy aims to cut down traffic jams, nocturnal disturbances, and the abundance of drug pushers catering to the millions of foreign tourists drawn to the Netherlands by its relaxed marijuana laws. Coffee shop owners have come out against the measures, citing expected losses in revenue. The European Court of Justice ruled in December that banning foreigners was justified "by the objective of combating drug tourism and the accompanying public nuisance". The Dutch government also plans to introduce a policy, coming into force in January 2014, requiring coffee shops to be at least 350 metres away from schools, to keep drug consumption away from children, Menten said. Though technically illegal, the Netherlands decriminalised the possession of less than five grammes (0.18 ounce) of cannabis in 1976 under a so-called "tolerance" policy. – AFP Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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