Difference between revisions of "Timeline of malaria in 2014"

This is a '''timeline of malaria in 2014'''.

*'''Parasites''':

*'''Vectors''':

*'''Drugs, vaccines, treatment, and control methods''':

*'''Vector control''':

! Date (news release) !! Event type !! Details !!

| January 14 || Engineering (drug) || Biologists at {{w|University of California, Berkeley}} develop new ways to genetically modify yeast to produce antimalarial {{w|artemisinin}}, with the purpose of getting the lowest possible price (in China, where most of the crop is grown, the price swung from 200$ to 1,100$ per kilogram).<ref>{{cite web|title=Biologists Modify Yeast to Produce Malaria Drug|url=http://discovermagazine.com/2014/jan-feb/23-synthesizing-supply-for-malaria-drug|website=discovermagazine.com|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref> || United States

| January 14 || Engineering (vaccine) || Researchers at {{w|Tulane University}} manage to use ''{{w|Escherichia coli}}'' bacteria to inexpensively manufacture protein CHrPfs25, which is critical to the development of a malaria vaccine.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Brannon-Tulane|first1=Keith|title=E. coli may offer cheap way to create a malaria vaccine|url=http://www.futurity.org/will-malaria-vaccine-come-e-coli/|website=futurity.org|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref> || United States

| January 16 || Engineering (testing) || United Kingdom biotech firm develops a handheld device able to detect infectious diseases such as malaria in just 15 minutes. The device is expected to be used by professionals in rural areas of developing nations to test more efficiently.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Stunt|first1=Victoria|title=Handheld DNA analysis device could diagnose malaria|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/handheld-dna-analysis-device-could-diagnose-malaria-1.2497519|website=cbc.ca|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref> || United Kingdom

| February 10 || Medical development (vaccine) || iBio Inc., a manufacturer of biological products, reports the initiation of a Phase 1 human safety and immunogenicity clinical study of a transmission-blocking malaria vaccine candidate. Clearance was obtained from the {{w|FDA}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Phase 1 Clinical Trial Begins for Malaria Vaccine Candidate Based on iBio's Proprietary Technology|url=http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/phase-1-clinical-trial-begins-malaria-vaccine-candidate-based-on-ibios-proprietary-technology-nyse-mkt-ibio-1877242.htm|website=marketwired.com|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Phase 1 Clinical Trial Begins for Malaria Vaccine Candidate Based on iBio's Proprietary Technology|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/phase-1-clinical-trial-begins-133100668.html|website=yahoo.com|accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref> || {{w|United States}}

| February 23 || Scientific discovery (parasite) || Two research teams working independently discover that a single {{w|protein}} (AP2-G) acts as the master genetic switch that triggers the development of male and female sexual forms of the malaria parasite.<ref>{{cite web|title=Key protein discovered as essential for malaria parasite transmission to mosquitos|url=https://phys.org/news/2014-02-key-protein-essential-malaria-parasite.html|website=phys.org|accessdate=4 July 2017}}</ref> || United States, United Kingdom

| March 10 || Scientific discovery (vector) || Researchers at the {{w|London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine}} and the {{w|University of Michigan}}, find that many areas and land masses are experiencing a gradual but noticeable warming, prompting the risk of causing malaria's domain to expand.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Moll|first1=Maryanne|title=Malaria spreading to higher grounds, thanks to global warming|url=http://www.techtimes.com/articles/4155/20140310/malaria-spreading-to-higher-grounds-thanks-to-global-warming.htm|website=techtimes.com|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref> || United Kingdom, United States

| April 24 || Discovery (resistance)|| International team manages to identify a genetic marker of {{w|artemisinin}} [[w:drug resistance|resistance]], after having first created a ''{{w|Plasmodium}}'' [[w:strain (biology)|strain]] in the laboratory that resists high levels of artemisinin and comparing its {{w|DNA}} with the non–resistant parent strain.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cookson|first1=Clive|title=Researchers test new ways of controlling malaria|url=https://www.ft.com/content/0e785716-be6d-11e3-a1bf-00144feabdc0|website=ft.com|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Researchers test new ways of controlling malaria|url=https://www.ft.com/content/0e785716-be6d-11e3-a1bf-00144feabdc0|website=ft.com|accessdate=6 July 2017}}</ref> ||  

| June 10 || || Research team at {{w|Imperial College London}} manages to genetically modify {{w|Anopheles gambiae}} mosquitoes so that the modified mosquitoes produce 95% male offspring. More importantly, this reproductive tendency is found to be inherited by the offspring of the modified mosquitoes.<ref>{{cite web|title=Scientists wipe out malaria-carrying mosquitoes in lab with male-only offspring|url=http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_10-6-2014-16-5-11|website=imperial.ac.uk|accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Genetically Modifying Mosquitoes to ‘Bite the Dust’? Ethical Considerations|url=http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2014/06/genetically-modifying-mosquitoes-to-bite-the-dust-ethical-considerations/|website=ox.ac.uk|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=How Sex Could Wipe Out Malaria|url=http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/sex-wipe-malaria/story?id=24141137|website=go.com|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref> || {{w|United Kingdom}}

| June 13 || || Researchers from {{w|Imperial College London}}, {{w|Institut Pasteur Paris}} and other organizations call for new methods to evaluate malaria programs.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Davenport|first1=Francesca|title=Researchers call for new evaluation methods to assess malaria programmes|url=http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_12-6-2014-18-17-49|website=imperial.ac.uk|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref> ||

| June 30 || Discovery (vector) || Researchers from {{w|Pennsylvania State University}} and the {{w|Swiss Federal Institute of Technology}}  find that malaria ''Plasmodium'' parasite in mice alters their body odor to entice mosquitoes.<ref>{{cite web|title=Malaria parasite alters host body odor to entice mosquitoes|url=http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-malaria-odor-mosquitoes-20140630-story.html|website=latimes.com|accessdate=4 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Elyse Messer|first1=Andrea|title=Malaria parasite manipulates host's scent|url=http://news.psu.edu/story/319648/2014/06/30/research/malaria-parasite-manipulates-hosts-scent|website=psu.edu|accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref> || {{w|United States}}

| July 9 || Discovery (parasite) || Researchers at {{w|Harvard School of Public Health}} in {{w|Boston}} claims having evidence that malaria parasite lurks in the {{w|bone marrow}}, flexible tissue in the interior of bones where blood cells are produced.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Berman|first1=Jessica|title=Researchers Confirm Presence of Malaria Parasite in Bone Marrow|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/researchers-confirm-presence-of-malaria-parasite-in-bone-marrow/1954382.html|website=voanews.com|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Malaria parasite can hide in bone marrow|url=https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/malaria-parasite-can-hide-in-bone-marrow/|website=harvard.edu|accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref> || {{w|United States}}

| July 21 || Discovery (drug) || Scientists at {{w|University College London}} discover cheap anti-malarial drug could prevent {{w|liver cancer}}.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Knapton|first1=Sarah|title=Malaria drug could prevent liver cancer|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/10978915/Malaria-drug-could-prevent-liver-cancer.html|website=telegraph.co.uk|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Malaria pill could prevent liver cancer|url=http://www.oncologynurseadvisor.com/headlines/malaria-pill-could-prevent-liver-cancer/article/362801/|website=oncologynurseadvisor.com|accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref> || {{w|United Kingdom}}

| July 17 || || Scientists from the {{w|Burnet Institute}}, {{w|Deakin University}} and {{w|Monash University}} in Australia manage to starve the malaria parasite ''Plasmodium'' of important {{w|protein}}s essential to its survival, providing a target for the development of new antimalarial drugs.<ref>{{cite web|title=Breakthrough made in quest for new malaria drugs as resistance fears grow|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jul/17/breakthrough-malaria-drugs-resistance-fears-grow|website=theguardian.com|accessdate=4 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Purdy|first1=Michael C.|title=Scientists find way to trap, kill malaria parasite|url=https://source.wustl.edu/2014/07/scientists-find-way-to-trap-kill-malaria-parasite/|website=wustl.edu|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref> || {{w|Australia}}

| July 21 || Technology (testing) || Researchers at {{w|Monash University}} and the {{w|University of Melbourne}} in {{w|Australia}} make use of advanced military hardware meant for missile defense and turn it into a way to rapidly identify malaria parasites in humans.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kulze|first1=Elizabeth|title=How Anti-Missile Technology Is Being Used to Detect Malaria|url=http://www.vocativ.com/culture/science/anti-missile-technology-used-detect-malaria/|website=vocativ.com|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=UWM physicists’ technology used in early malaria detection|url=https://uwm.edu/news/uwm-physicists-technology-used-in-early-malaria-detection/|website=uwm.edu|accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref> || {{w|Australia}}

| July 29 || || After conducting advanced trial in several African countries involving 15,000 infants and children,  British pharmaceutical company {{w|GlaxoSmithKline}} asks the [[w:European Medicines Agency|European Medicine's Authority]] to approve {{w|RTS,S}} vaccine for global use.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mundasad|first1=Smitha|title='Milestone' for child malaria vaccine|url=http://www.bbc.com/news/health-28541939|website=bbc.com|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref> ||

| August 10 || || Biological engineers at the [[wikipedia:MIT|Massachusets Institute of Technology]] demonstrate that [[wikipedia:CRISPR|CRISPR]] genome-editing technique can disrupt a single parasite gene with a success rate of up to 100% — in a matter of weeks. This approach could enable much more rapid malaria gene analysis and boost drug-development efforts.<ref>{{cite web|title=An easier way to manipulate malaria genes|url=http://news.mit.edu/2014/better-malaria-drug-targets-0810|website=mit.edu|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref> || [[wikipedia:United States|United States]]

| August 24 || Technology (testing) || Scientific paper describes method based on {{w|computer vision}} {{w|algorithm}}s similar to those used in {{w|facial recognition system}}s combined with visualization of only the diagnostically most relevant areas as a means for obtaining a significantly improved malaria diagnostic. <ref>{{cite web|title=Man And Machine: Facial Recognition System Improves Malaria Diagnostics|url=http://www.science20.com/news_articles/man_and_machine_facial_recognition_system_improves_malaria_diagnostics-143173|website=science20.com|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref> ||

| September 3 || || Professor at the {{w|University of Connecticut}} designs a self-assembling protein nanoparticle that shows to be effective at getting the immune system to attack malaria parasite ''{{w|Plasmodium falciparum}}'', after it enters the body and before it has a chance to hide and aggressively spread.<ref>{{cite web|title=UConn Researcher’s Nanoparticle Key to New Malaria Vaccine|url=http://today.uconn.edu/2014/09/uconn-researchers-nanoparticle-key-to-new-malaria-vaccine/|website=uconn.edu|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref> || United States

| September 9 || || Researchers at {{w|Singapore–MIT alliance}} develop an inexpensive device that can accurately diagnose malaria within minutes by using only a droplet of blood.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Pandey|first1=Avaneesh|title=Scientists Invent Inexpensive, Quick And Accurate Malaria Test|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/scientists-invent-inexpensive-quick-accurate-malaria-test-1674922|accessdate=4 July 2017}}</ref> || {{w|United States}}

| September 10 || || Researchers at the {{w|University of California, San Francisco}} develop an online platform that health workers around the world could use to predict where malaria is likely to be transmitted using data on {{w|Google Earth Engine}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=UCSF, Google Earth Engine Making Maps to Predict Malaria|url=https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2014/09/116906/ucsf-google-earth-engine-making-maps-predict-malaria|website=ucsf.edu|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref> || {{w|United States}}

| October 22 || || Researchers on the island of Borneo make use of flying robots to map out areas affected by malaria parasite {{w|Plasmodium knowlesi}}, which most commonly infects macaque monkeys. The small camera-carrying drone creates maps and digital surface models of the land and vegetation surrounding communities where ''P. knowlesi'' has turned up in humans. <ref>{{cite web|title=How Drones Are Fighting Infectious Disease|url=https://www.livescience.com/48396-drones-track-infectious-disease.html|website=livescience.com|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref> || {{w|Malaysia}}

| October 27 || || Researchers at {{w|Johns Hopkins University}} manage to “vaccinate” mosquitos against the parasite that causes malaria and the virus that causes dengue, by using bacteria {{{w|Chromobacterium}}, which prevents the pathogens from effectively invading and colonizing mosquito guts.<ref>{{cite web|title=Exploiting insect microbiomes to curb malaria and dengue|url=http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2014/10/27/exploiting-insect-microbiomes-to-curb-malaria-and-dengue/|website=stanford.edu|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ramirez et al|first1=Jose Luis|title=Chromobacterium Csp_P Reduces Malaria and Dengue Infection in Vector Mosquitoes and Has Entomopathogenic and In Vitro Anti-pathogen Activities|url=http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1004398|accessdate=5 August 2017|quote=Ingestion of Csp_P by the mosquito significantly reduces its susceptibility to Plasmodium falciparum and dengue virus infection, thereby compromising the mosquito's vector competence. This bacterium also exerts in vitro anti-Plasmodium and anti-dengue activities, which appear to be mediated through Csp_P -produced stable bioactive factors with transmission-blocking and therapeutic potential.}}</ref> || United States

| November 3 || || {{w|Microsoft}} magnate {{w|Bill Gates}} announces his foundation will give away $500 million during 2014 to combat diseases like malaria on top of the $50 million it already committed to fighting Ebola.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Alexander|first1=Dan|title=Bill Gates Gives $500 Million To Fight Malaria, Other Diseases|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2014/11/03/bill-gates-gives-500-million-to-fight-malaria-other-diseases/#72cdef0a1cb8|website=forbes.com|accessdate=4 July 2017}}</ref> || United States

| November 6 || || "A form of malaria found in wild monkeys has begun to infect people so often in parts of Southeast Asia that it has become the leading cause of malaria in Malaysia." "Parasite’s jump from monkeys to people seems aided by deforestation"<ref>{{cite web|title=Uncommon malaria spreading in Malaysia|url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/uncommon-malaria-spreading-malaysia|website=sciencenews.org|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=McNEIL Jr|first1=DONALD G.|title=A Rare Form of Malaria Is Spreading in Malaysia|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/health/a-rare-form-of-malaria-is-spreading-in-malaysia.html|website=nytimes.com|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref> || {{w|Malaysia}}

| December 4 || || "Blood pressure build-up from white blood cells may cause cerebral malaria death"<ref>{{cite web|title=Blood pressure build-up from white blood cells may cause cerebral malaria death|url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-12/p-bpb112614.php|website=eurekalert.org|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref> ||

| December 9 || || "Researchers at the University of Basel and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute have now developed so-called nanomimics of host cell membranes that trick the parasites. This could lead to novel treatment and vaccination strategies in the fight against malaria and other infectious diseases."<ref>{{cite web|title=Nanotechnology against malaria parasites|url=https://phys.org/news/2014-12-nanotechnology-malaria-parasites.html|website=phys.org|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Nanotechnology battles malaria parasites|url=https://www.rdmag.com/news/2014/12/nanotechnology-battles-malaria-parasites|website=rdmag.com|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref> || Switzerland

| December 11 || || Researchers at {{w|Nanyang Technological University}} report having discovered exactly how the malaria parasite is developing resistance towards the most important front-line drugs used to treat the disease, after having analyzed 1,000 malaria samples taken from patients in the area of the {{w|Greater Mekong Subregion}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=Latest research by NTU discovers reasons for malaria's drug resistance|url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-12/ntu-lrb121114.php|website=eurekalert.org|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref> || {{w|Singapore}}

| December 19 || || {{w|Google.org}}, the charitable arm of {{w|Google}}, announces that it's giving a $600,000 grant to {{w|Malaria No More}} to embark on a potentially transformative data mining project in Nigeria. The grant is part of a pot of $15 million that Google.org is giving out to organizations that use technology to solve the world's biggest problems. In Africa, where 1 billion mobile phone subscriptions are predicted by 2015, it is expected that public health researchers could have one billion ways to communicate with—and collect data from—the people who are most at risk of catching malaria, a disease that has traditionally been extremely difficult to track.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lapowsky|first1=Issie|title=The Savvy Plan to Combat Malaria With Mobile Phones|url=https://www.wired.com/2014/12/malaria-no-more-google/|website=wired.com|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Google.org helping fund mobile phone project to combat malaria|url=https://www.geekwire.com/2014/google-org-helping-fund-mobile-phone-project-combat-malaria/|website=geekwire.com|accessdate=5 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Google.org giving over $15 million in grants to groups including Feeding America, Nexleaf Analytics, & Malaria No More|url=https://9to5google.com/2014/12/19/google-org-grants-holidays/|website=9to5google.com|accessdate=5 August 2017}}</ref> ||

 

*[[Timeline of malaria]]