A malaria vaccine that uses a weakened form of the parasite is a step closer, following human safety trials.
It is based on a genetically modified form of malaria that is unable to cause a full infection in people. A total of 10 people took part in the safety trials and no one developed malaria or had severe side effects.
The team at the Center for Infectious Disease Research, in Seattle, deleted three genes from the parasite. Infecting people with the weakened parasite exposes the immune system to malaria, but the parasite is thought to be unable to complete its life cycle and actually cause disease.
Researcher Dr Sebastian Mikolajczak said: “The clinical study shows that the vaccine is completely attenuated in humans and also that after only a single administration, it elicits a robust immune response against the malaria parasite. These findings are critical milestones for malaria vaccine development.”
Dr Robert Seder, from the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health, said: “Future studies demonstrating protective efficacy will be the next critical milestone for continued development of this promising vaccine approach.” The research paper has been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
