A mobile genotyping method for tracking molecular markers of artemisinin resistant Plasmodium falciparum infections in resource-limited settings

Over the past decade, substantial progress has been made towards the elimination of malaria. However, this progress is being threatened by the recent emergence of drug resistance to artemisinin, the most potent malaria treatment. Artemisinin resistance has been observed in the parasites that cause malaria in the South East Asia, which is the result of a mutation in the parasite’s DNA. The parasites in this region are resistant to 2 out of 3 of the first-line artemisinin-based malaria treatments and are showing partial resistance to the third. Currently, no method exists to detect mutations in the parasite DNA in the field and drug resistance is determined by observing the infection over several days of treatment. This proposal sets to develop a system that can detect mutations in the parasite before treatment is even started. This will enable more efficient treatment strategies and allow for more accurate tracking of drug resistance. Once this method has been optimised in the lab, clinical specimens will be obtained from an international collaborator to validate the system. Then the detection system will be tested in the field. The system will also have the advantage of being able to test samples from multiple patients at the same time. This will allow researchers to more effectively track the spread of the resistance, by testing a large number of people over a short period of time. Experts estimate that if this drug resistance reaches sub-Saharan Africa, where the burden of disease is much higher than in the South East Asia, it could set malaria control back more than 25 years. The ability to accurately track drug resistance is central to its containment, and to control of malaria worldwide.

Project details

Diagnostics
Drug Resistance
Product Development

May 2016 — Apr 2017

$13,290

Canada