How MalariaGEN works
MalariaGEN is a scientific network that connects researchers and clinicians in malaria-endemic countries with cutting-edge DNA sequencing technologies and genomic research.
Through a number of multi-centre projects, we provide a framework for generating, integrating and sharing genetic and genomic data, and for investigating key questions about malaria biology and epidemiology. Learn more about how genomics can help to defeat malaria.
The network is coordinated by the MalariaGEN Resource Centre whose members are based primarily at the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford and at the Wellcome Sanger Institute on the Wellcome Genome Campus.
Our scientific goals are to:
- Analyse genetic variation in malaria parasites in sufficient detail to understand how antimalarial drug resistance emerges and spreads
- Characterise genetic and evolutionary processes that contribute to insecticide resistance in mosquitoes
- Lead large genome-wide association studies in diverse human populations to understand how people naturally resist malaria
- Investigate how genetic variation effects interactions between people and parasites, and parasites and mosquitoes
- Develop practical applications for public health, for example real-time surveillance of genetic changes in natural populations as a part of routine epidemiological monitoring, and integrating genetic and genomic data into mathematical models
Our work involves:
- Coordinating international projects that provide a framework for generating and analysing large-scale genomic data
- Developing genome technologies and statistical methods to support the generation and analysis of genetic and genomic data
- Building informatics systems and open source software for integrating and sharing large genetic and epidemiological data sets
- Undertaking cutting-edge population genetic analyses that integrate genomic data with clinical and epidemiology data
- Developing ethical policies to support data-sharing in low- and middle-income settings
- Supporting research capacity in malaria-endemic countries
- Hosting an annual Genomic Epidemiology of Malaria meeting at the Wellcome Genome Campus in Hinxton, UK
