Progress Reported in Malaria Gene Research
the associated press
washington - Researchers have unraveled part of the genetic pattern of the
malaria parasite, an advance that may lead to new drugs against one of the
world's major disease killers. 
	In a study co-authored by 27 scientists at seven different
institutions, researchers report in the journal Science that they have
identified 210 genes in one chromosome of Plasmodium falciparum, the
most deadly form of malaria. 
	A statement from the US National Institutes of Health said that the
genetic information will help find new targets for drugs and identify parts
of the malaria parasite that could be used to make vaccines against the
disease. Researchers at the Institute in Bethesda, Maryland state, have
been working on mapping the genetic structure of the malarial parasite,
Falciparum, for several years now.
	Malaria is a disease caused by a mosquito-borne parasite. It
annually infects more than 300 million people worldwide and kills about 3
million. Most deaths are among children in Africa. 
	Some forms of malaria have become resistant to preventive drugs,
and the disease is becoming an increasingly serious problem in some parts
of the world. 
	In Cambodia, scientists have found strains of malaria resistant to
the anti-malarial drug chloroquine along the Thai-Cambodia border. The
Ministry of Health recorded about 170,000 cases of malaria in Cambodia
in 1997 and 800 deaths. Health experts however believe the number of
people affected by the parasite is much higher.
	Many people affected by malaria in Cambodia live too far away  or
do not have access to health centers where national statistics are recorded.