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Malaria Vaccine Appears Rasy

Click to see original imageBreakthroughs in medical research which have relieved suffering and lengthened the life span rank high on the “good news” list for recent decades. Latest among promising developments is a major advance toward a vaccine against malaria, a goal once considered remote. Malaria is a dangerous disease with 200 million new cases each year, A global program to control it by killing the mosquitoes that carry it has faltered as the insects developed resistance to presticides. Combining of two major new biomedical technologies by Drs. Victor and Ruth Nussenzweig, working at New York University with financial support from the Rockefeller foundation, gives promise that an effective vaccine may be on the way. The two reported their work at a meeting in Toronto of the American Association for Advancement of Science. A first step toward a vaccine was taken years ago when William Trager of Rockefeller University in New York succeeded in growing the malaria causing parasite (called plasmodium) in a laboratory. But the vaccine seemed impossible because there was no apparent way to isolate the chemical, called an antigen, that causes the boy to produce an effective immunity against the parasite. Now the researchers have surmounted that difficulty by using hybridomas, a new biomedical creation that makes it possible to produce limitless amounts of a given antigen. Success with measles vaccine in recent years has been widely – hailed. Memory lingers of the spectacular Salk anti-polio serum breakthrough nearly 26 years ago, and of various so-called wonder drugs to combat one malady or another. It’s far too early to hail the New York malaria research as an accomplished success. But the effort apparently shows great promise and should be supported and encouraged.