Researchers find malaria's weak point, offer hope for world children

Parasites that cause malaria, called Plasmodium, keep evolving new ways to survive. [Courtesy]

Every year, malaria kills more than 600,000 people worldwide. Most of them are children under five in sub-Saharan Africa. But the disease isn’t confined to poor, rural areas – it’s a global threat that travels with people across borders.

For decades, the fight against malaria has felt like running in place. Bed nets and drugs save lives, but the family of parasites that cause malaria, called Plasmodium, keeps evolving new ways to survive. These parasites are transmitted to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes.