Our human projects aim to identify and better understand the changes in a person's DNA that could help protect them from developing severe malaria.
When we first started studying the human genome, we knew that a person’s risk of developing severe malaria is influenced by many different genetic and environmental factors, but we knew relatively little about their precise nature and how they interact. Scientific studies at the time were small and isolated.
What we've done
- Established an international data-sharing network with capacity building in data analysis for researchers in malaria-endemic countries
- Built the largest clinical dataset for genetic studies of resistance to severe malaria (11,890 cases of severe malaria and 17,441 healthy controls)
- Led an innovated programme of ethics research
- Published the first genome-wide association (GWAS) of an African population, as well as the largest-ever study of genetic variants associated with cases of severe malaria
- Discovered genes that help to protect African children from developing severe malaria