How genomics is contributing to the fight against artemisinin-resistant malaria parasites

Abstract

Plasmodium falciparum, the malignant malaria parasite, has developed resistance to artemisinin, the most important and widely used antimalarial drug at present. Currently confined to Southeast Asia, the spread of resistant parasites to Africa would constitute a public health catastrophe. In this review we highlight the recent contributions of genomics to our understanding how the parasite develops resistance to artemisinin and its derivatives, and how resistant parasites may be monitored and tracked in real-time, using molecular approaches.

Keywords: Artemisinin resistance; Genomics; Malaria; Molecular markers; Plasmodium falciparum.