Dutch and US researchers have re-engineered non-druggable compounds that block the transmission and metabolism of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.

Malaria resistance has been found to have spread rapidly from Cambodia to neighboring countries in Southeast Asia. Using genomic surveillance, researchers detected descendants of one multi-drug resistant malaria strain replacing local parasite populations in multiple countries.

Researchers developed a method to test whole blood instead of extracting DNA, eliminating processing steps that can take hours or days.

While fewer people are dying from malaria In Africa overall, cases have not decreased. And in parts of Asia drug-resistant strains of malaria have stated to appear.

Genomic information would help malaria control programs use quality data sets for regular monitoring of drug resistance, provide evidence for poicy decisions, and manage the spread of resistance.

One by one, previous treatments are failing against a disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people every year.

New drug-resistant strains of the parasite that causes malaria tend to evolve in regions with lower malaria risk; in areas with high transmission rates, they get outcompeted by the more common, drug-sensitive strains inside the human host.

Scientists are racing to stamp out the disease in southeast Asia before unstoppable strains spread.

Scientists want to conduct a mass inoculation in a Cambodian region where new malaria vaccines always seem to stop being effective.

The outbreak in Cambodia, then Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam of malaria that is untreatable with the newest and best drugs has alarmed experts.