These articles talk about advances in treatment and vaccine development for Leishmaniasis. I haven't read anything about this disease in a very long time. There has been a movement to study some of the forgotten diseases that are devastating in parts of the world, but not in developed countries.
http://www.jgid.org/article.asp?issn=0974-777X;year=2010;volume=2;issue=2;spage=177;epage=185;aulast=Kedzierski
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2012/02/03/potential.new.treatment.identified.leishmaniasis
http://www.asianscientist.com/tech-pharma/idri-vaccine-clinical-trial-visceral-leishmaniasis-2012/
This article is regarding advances in malaria vaccines.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/18/health/trial-malaria-vaccine-africa/index.html
And here's one on the brain eating amoebas! Try this link and scroll down to the article:
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/
Finally, here is the article on the interesting implications of the relationship between algae and the apical complex (apicoplast) of Plasmodium and how this could be Malaria's undoing.
Comment: Has the information you've learned in class helped you understand these articles? And do you think these efforts will lead to reductions in these diseases--why or why not?
Malaria:
ReplyDeleteI believe that Yeh's discovery is one of the first steps to figuring out how to stop malaria. I think that if you understand something fully you will be able to use that knowledge to your advantage. Boris Striepen however is right, this by itself will not solve this situation but it will be an essential tool. From this discovery they will most likely research the similarities of algae and apicoplasts and try to find out how they could alter its DNA or metabolic pathways or something like that.
"Whether they like it or not" ahahaha
wow that was a funny end to that video, but since we talked about the history of vaccines and how Pasteur worked on vaccines and the basics of how they work, its pretty cool to think that such a elusive vaccine may be discovered in our lifetime to something this devastating. the people have high hopes and are already doing tests on their children just like when Pasteur treated that little boy for rabies. If this vaccine suceeds then that would be amazing but there wasnt enough information on how it works to truly be able to give an opinion. But if it doesnt work you can always build off of that vaccine with other research such as Watson and Crick did with Franklins.
Brain Eating Amoebas:
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Leishmaniasis:
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LEISHMANIASIS:
ReplyDeleteAccording to "e! Science News" regarding leishmaniasis; "The disease is the second biggest killer in Africa, Asia, and Latin America after malaria, and affects 500,000 people, killing about 50-60,000 people per year."
It was interesting to think back on the leishmaniasis slide I looked at in lab. I had difficulty finding it! Its hard to imagine that tiny, microscopic protist can cause this devastating disease. I can imagine the urgency researchers feel to find vaccinations and treatments for leishmaniasis. Unfortunately; "...current treatments are too expensive, difficult to administer, or toxic for widespread use in poor countries." ("Asian Scientist" 'First Vaccine Against Fatal Visceral Leishmaniasis Enters Phase 1 Trial')
I know if laboratories and researchers continue to fight and work past the barriers they face in research, they will find a treatment.