Malaria caught on video breaking and entering into red blood cell
1–10 of 21 posts
Re: Malaria caught on video breaking and entering into red blood cell
#2So cool.
Re: Malaria caught on video breaking and entering into red blood cell
#3The implications of this video are stunning. This is the closest we have ever been to understanding
the invasion process of the parasite at a molecular level. Perhaps this will finally lead to a viable
and effective vaccine for Malaria.
This disease is a major killer in tropical and sub-tropical regions and any real vaccine can save literally millions of lives.
The abstract is at http://www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe/abstract/S1931-3128(10... The actual PDF is at http://download.cell.com/cell-host-microbe/pdf/PIIS193131281...
EDITed for PDF link
Re: Malaria caught on video breaking and entering into red blood cell
#4The video is fascinating, but I feel like asking Arthur Dent-like questions: How does the parasite know the red cell is around and how does it go toward the cell. Or do they get attached randomly, the movement in the video seemed pretty random, perhaps due to Brownian motion?
Re: Malaria caught on video breaking and entering into red blood cell
#5The implications of this video are stunning. This is the closest we have ever been to understanding the invasion process of the parasite at a molecular level. Perhaps this will finally lead to a viable and effective vaccine for Malaria. This disease is a major killer in tropical and sub-tropical regions and any real vaccine can save literally millions of lives. The abstract is at http://www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe…
You're being a bit hyperbolic[1]. The video included in the article, at least, is low resolution, jittery, and grainy. It says absolutely nothing about the methods used by Malaria to enter the blood cells, much less "at a molecular level." It's cool, of course, just not quite as cool as you're suggesting. Admittedly, the fact that the second parasite completely ignored the infected cell is really interesting - if how it knew to ignore the infected cell was known, that would be a huge advance.
[1] And I'm being a bit cynical. Hopefully we'll balance out.
Re: Malaria caught on video breaking and entering into red blood cell
#6I had always just assumed that deformation of blood cells as portrayed by computer graphics in shows like CSI or House were arbitrary and 'artistic representations'. But the last 15 seconds of this video are outstanding.
Re: Malaria caught on video breaking and entering into red blood cell
#7Aside from the implications of this for medical research (congrats to the team), I don't believe I've ever been so horrified by a video in my life. If I were to catch malaria, knowing what is going on internally..
Re: Malaria caught on video breaking and entering into red blood cell
#8The implications of this video are stunning. This is the closest we have ever been to understanding the invasion process of the parasite at a molecular level. Perhaps this will finally lead to a viable and effective vaccine for Malaria. This disease is a major killer in tropical and sub-tropical regions and any real vaccine can save literally millions of lives. The abstract is at http://www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe…
You're being a bit hyperbolic[1]. The video included in the article, at least, is low resolution, jittery, and grainy. It says absolutely nothing about the methods used by Malaria to enter the blood cells, much less "at a molecular level." It's cool, of course, just not quite as cool as you're suggesting. Admittedly, the fact that the second parasite completely ignored the infected cell is really interesting - if how…
Possibly. I should have been more clear though; I really meant 'study' instead of 'video'.
I'm ecstatic because of this:
'The ability to dissect in detail the spatial and temporal localization of key molecular and cellular events during P. falciparum merozoite invasion provides a powerful platform to explore strategies to block the process.'
That's from the discussion section in the paper.
Your cynicism is highly warranted though. Its taken awfully long for us to understand this common and curable disease; there's no reason to expect that a usable vaccine will be available soon.
Re: Malaria caught on video breaking and entering into red blood cell
#9I had always just assumed that deformation of blood cells as portrayed by computer graphics in shows like CSI or House were arbitrary and 'artistic representations'. But the last 15 seconds of this video are outstanding.
That's the coolest part of the video imo. Super creepy.
Re: Malaria caught on video breaking and entering into red blood cell
#10I had always just assumed that deformation of blood cells as portrayed by computer graphics in shows like CSI or House were arbitrary and 'artistic representations'. But the last 15 seconds of this video are outstanding.
That's the coolest part of the video imo. Super creepy.
Even creepier when you realize that there's actually a bunch of fresh parasites inside waiting to do the same to your other cells.