Malaria

View of the torso of a woman wearing a white lab coat and gloves in a lab holding a petri dish with green material oozing in one hand and a small pipette in the other hand

Scientists identify mechanism behind drug resistance in malaria parasite

SMART researchers find a cellular process called transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) modification influences the malaria parasite’s ability to develop resistance.

May 29, 2024

In this image, four Plasmodium vivax parasites have invaded human hepatocytes. Three of the parasites are developing while one parasite, on the lower right, is a dormant hypnozoite, which remains small until its reactivation.

Human malaria parasites grown for the first time in dormant form

Novel technology could allow researchers to develop and test new antimalaria drugs.

February 22, 2018

Jinyao Liu, left, and Giovanni Traverso stretch a new hydrogel. To help ensure patients receive their full course of treatment, researchers have developed a new set of drug delivery materials made of the hydrogel. The material can reside in the stomach for up to nine days and slowly release its dosage of medication.

Ingestible drug-delivery materials may help patients comply with treatment regimens

Hydrogel-based capsules could expand and reside in the GI tract for days, slowly releasing medication.

July 25, 2017

Hadley Sikes, an associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, is one of an increasing number of MIT faculty members who do what might best be called public engineering — emphasizing the interaction between society and technology.

The creation of a public engineer

Hadley Sikes is bridging the gap between engineering and public policy to solve big social problems at home and abroad.

April 27, 2017

A team of MIT biological engineers has developed a method to measure levels of the iron-containing protein heme inside the malaria parasite. “One of our long-term goals is ultimately being able to tie insights from these studies back to thinking about drug discovery and targeting pathways that regulate heme,” says Jacquin Niles, an MIT associate professor of biological engineering.

Taking aim at a key malaria molecule

Measuring the parasite’s heme levels could help scientists develop better antimalarial drugs.

February 27, 2017

The star-shaped drug delivery device, held here by Giovanni Traverso, a Koch Institute research affiliate, can be folded inward and encased in a smooth capsule. Once ingested, the device delivers a full drug payload gradually over weeks or even months.

New capsule achieves long-term drug delivery

Technology could aid in elimination of malaria and treatment of many other diseases.

November 16, 2016

Women and children in rural Uganda look on as a service provider from a nearby health center provides malaria tests for communities on the lake's edge.

MIT-USAID program releases supply chain evaluation of malaria diagnostics

Study of malaria rapid diagnostic tests in Uganda assesses scalability, identifies supply chain challenges.

October 13, 2016

“We can, through engineering, convert this organism’s parasitic lifestyle into a more symbiotic relationship,” Jacquin Niles says about the malaria parasite.

Engineering foe into friend

Bose Grant awardee Jacquin Niles aims to repurpose the malaria parasite for drug delivery.

January 22, 2016

Toxoplasma gondii visible within a pseudocyst.

Researchers identify new target for anti-malaria drugs

Manipulating the permeability of a type of vacuole could help defeat malarial parasites.

May 13, 2015

MIT researchers engineered liver-like cells that can be infected with several strains of the parasite that causes malaria, including Plasmodium falciparum (top row) and Plasmodium berghei (bottom row). The red stain reveals parasite infection.

New source of cells for modeling malaria

Liver cells derived from stem cells can be infected with malaria and used to test potential drugs.

February 5, 2015

A new way to diagnose malaria

Using magnetic fields, technique can detect parasite’s waste products in infected blood cells.

August 31, 2014

An easier way to manipulate malaria genes

New approach to knocking out parasite’s genes could make it easier to identify drug targets.

August 10, 2014

PhD student John Lewandowski of Disease Diagnostics Group receives the grand prize at last night's MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition finale

Better malaria detector wins MIT $100K

Faster, more accurate diagnostic device takes home grand prize; others earn thousands in funding.

May 15, 2014

How the immune system fights off malaria

Study reveals immune cells that are critical to combating the parasite in early stages of infection.

January 13, 2014

Using quantitative phase imaging, MIT and UTA researchers created this image of red blood cells.

Seeing through silicon

New microscopy technique allows scientists to visualize cells through the walls of silicon microfluidic devices.

October 2, 2013

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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