Scientists claim breakthrough in malaria vaccine

Scottish scientists claim to have made a significant breakthrough in developing a vaccine for malaria.

Scottish scientists claim to have made a significant breakthrough in developing a vaccine for malaria, which every year kills millions of people, including children under five, in south Asia and Africa.

Researchers at Edinburgh University, who led a 17-month study of children in Ghana, have discovered an antibody in their blood that makes them more immune to malaria than those who do not have it, reported the daily Scotsman.

According to them, the disease-fighting molecules take years to develop naturally in the body and many children die before they can build up resistance.

With the new discovery, biologists are striving to develop a vaccine that would stimulate the creation of these antibodies in young children, providing them protection from the disease spread by mosquitoes.

"When you get bitten by a mosquito, the parasite (which causes malaria) goes into the blood and then to the liver where it grows and multiplies by 10,000 to 20,000 before it bursts out into the blood and invades the red blood cells - that's when you get sick," said David Cavanagh of the School of Biological Sciences at Edinburgh University.

"The protein we're working on targets the disease at that blood stage.