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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Most Infectious Malaria Strain Came From Chimps?


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The most malignant known form of malaria may have jumped from chimpanzees (above, a young chimp in the Republic of the Congo) to humans.

According to an August 2009 study, genetic analysis shows that the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, which accounts for nearly 85 percent of all malaria infections in humans, is a mutated form of the parasite found in chimps.

Photograph courtesy Michael Nichols