Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites transmitted by a bite from infected Anopheles mosquitoes.

A malaria vaccine that uses a weakened form of the parasite has passed a “critical milestone” in human safety trials, say researchers.

Doctors used a genetically modified form of malaria that was unable to cause a full infection in people.

Trials, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, suggested it was safe and generated a good immune response.

Tropical disease experts described the findings as “promising”.

The malaria parasite goes through multiple stages both in mosquitoes and inside the human body.

The team at the Centre for Infectious Disease Research, in Seattle, deleted three genes from the parasite so it could not infect liver cells.

The idea is that “infecting” people with the weakened parasite will expose the immune system to malaria, but the parasite will not be able to complete its lifecycle to cause disease.

Ten people took part in the safety trials. No-one went on to develop the disease and there were no severe side-effects to the treatment.

The patients’ antibodies were then given to mice, which showed greater immunity when they were deliberately […]

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WASHINGTON — The share of U.S. adults who describe themselves as Christians has been declining for decades, but today’s Congress is about as Christian as it was in the early 1960s, according to a new analysis by the Pew Research Center.

Sea level rise over the North Carolina Coast.
Credit: www.biogeocreations.com

Coastal Carolina officials may not be willing to prepare for climate change until it’s too late, according to a new study out of N.C. State and Appalachian State Universities. (emphasis added)

Appalachian State University researcher Brian Bulla surveyed local officials in 20 coastal counties and found that knowledge of the science behind climate change didn’t make officials more willing to prepare their communities for impacts like sea-level rise.

To Bulla, the findings raised concerns.

“It seems to suggest that just providing people − whether public officials or the general public − with more or better information is not necessarily going to increase adaptive action,” he said.

Since 1870, global sea level has risen by about 7.5 inches, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which further estimates global sea levels will rise at a greater rate during the next century.