Introduction

Consortial Project 4 set out to find the specific genes responsible for malaria resistance within genomic regions identified in previous genetic linkage studies.

Objectives & Coordination

Linkage analysis of host resistance to malaria

This project built on previous family-based studies conducted over more than a decade in rural communities where malaria is common. These studies identified a number of regions of the human genome that appear to influence an individual’s ability to control the level of parasites in the blood, or how often an individual becomes ill with malaria fever.

The primary objective of Consortial Project 4 was to characterise genetic variation in these regions of interest.

As part of this project, we:

• Compared the results of previous genetic linkage studies to identify regions of the genome that have strong evidence of a genetic effect on the intensity of infection or the rate of illness due to malaria
• Designed a method of fine mapping these genomic regions by genotyping single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the subjects of the previous genetic linkage studies
• Identified more than 1,000 SNPs in the chromosome 5p which is linked to malaria resistance in both Senegal and Thailand, in an effort to pinpoint the casual variant

This project is led by investigators the Institut Pasteur in France and at the Bernard Nocht Institute in Germany, in collaboration with partners in Senegal, and Thailand.

Sampling locations

Senegal, Thailand.

Publications

• A global network for investigating the genomic epidemiology of malaria
  Malaria Genomic Epidemiology Network
  Nature, 2008; 456(7223) 732-7
  10.1038/nature07632