Humans and baboons 'similar' on malaria

Humans and baboons react to malaria in a very similar way, despite the two species not being closely related in evolutionary terms, new research has found.

Scientists at the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy have discovered that a regulatory gene found in both humans and baboons is responsible for determining how likely an individual is to fall ill to malaria.

"It's a nice example of how - in the vastness of the genome - the same gene was modified in the same way in two different species to produce the same kind of resistance," said senior author Greg Wray, director of the institute.

"That's a pretty remarkable thing when you think of all the different ways malaria resistance might have evolved."

The gene in question determines whether or not a protein is created on the surface of red blood cells, with this difference making a person - or baboon - either prone to or resistant to the disease.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, connecting health communities