Malaria agent found in chimpanzees

A new malaria agent has been found in chimpanzees in central Africa by researchers based in France and Gabon.

The new agent is known as Plasmodium gaboni and is similar to P falciparum, which is the most virulent human agent.

This could help scientists to develop new drug targets to potentially limit the effects of P falciparum, as previously there has been a lack of known related genomes.

By sequencing the nuclear genome of the Plasmodium gaboni, new information and understanding of the human agent could be found.

Writing in the journal Public Library of Science Pathogens, researchers from the Centre International de Recherches Medicales de Franceville, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and l'Institut de Recherche pour le Développement suggested that the discovery provides new hope for people at risk of malaria.

Currently, P falciparum is the cause of more than one million deaths per year around the world.

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