Research Project

Research Project

Malaria Vaccine

Table Of Contents

01.

02.

03.

04.

05.

Hypothesis

Introduction & Background

Materials & Methods

Results

Conclusion

Introduction & Background

Malaria

What is Malaria?

Malaria is a dangerous human disease caused by the Plasmodium parasite, which is transmitted through the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito (Nosten 1). When a female mosquito bites a human, sporosites are transferred into the human bloodstream, which then make there way to the liver (“Renowned” 1). The infected blood leads to several dangerous side effects such as cerebral malaria, severe malarial anemia, coma, fever, rashes, muscle pain, or death” (Forbes 1).

Malaria

Anopheles Mosquito Bites Human

The Cycle

Sporozoites in Liver

Merozoites are Formed

Text

Infected Erythrocytes are Released into the Bloodstream

Hypothesis

Manuel Elkin Patarroyo

Dr. Manuel E. Patarroyo is a colombian doctor recognized as the creator of the first chemically synthesized vaccine against malaria (Patarroyo 1). Unlike most scientists who were focusing on developing vaccines to target the sporozoite form of the parasite, Dr. Patarroyo focused on the merozoite form, where the negative symptoms of malaria are initiated (Reed 1).

Materials & Methods

How many?

After discovering that Anopheles mosquito bites caused diseases, scientists began to investigate how many bites it took to transmit the infection. It was clear that monkeys were also susceptible to these bites and the associated sporozoites, so researchers were determined to figure out the extent of these bites (Nosten 1). They took into account the mosquito's anatomy as well as the anatomy of the monkey (Reed 1).. It became apparent that just one bite was enough to transfer millions of sporozoites to the monkeys, which would immediately cause disease (“Renowned” 1). “To determine the number of bites needed to infect a monkey, animals were exposed to various numbers of P. knowlesi-infected mosquitoes” (Reed 1).

How many?

In addition to trying to understand how many mosquito bites it would take to infect a monkey, scientists also researched how long Anopheles dirus mosquitoes survived after feeding on a P. knowlesi-infected monkey (Reed 1). They found that mosquitoes feeding on the more heavily infected monkey had a significantly different survival rate compared to those feeding on uninfected monkeys (Forbes 1). However, there was no significant difference between mosquitoes feeding on monkeys with different infection levels (Reed 1).

Research & Clinical Trials

After the discovery that wol monkeys could be suede to model the study of malaur, Dr. Manuel Elkin Patarroyo was able to to test and refine his malaria vaccine, SPf66, by observing its effects in these monkeys before advancing to human trials (Honigsbaum 1).

Results

SPf66

After extensive experimentation on Colombian owl monkeys, Dr. Manuel Elkin Patarroyo moved on to test the vaccine on 50 human volunteers (Nosten 1). The vaccine showed 30-60% effectiveness (Suarez 3). He later expanded his trials to include a total of 45,000 volunteers to strengthen and support his research (“Renowned 2). These trials allowed him to observe the vaccine's effects and downsides, leading to improvements that shaped the vaccine into a life-saving tool against malaria (Honigsbaum 1).

Conclusion

The SPf66 vaccine changed the lives of millions around the world suffering from the effects of the Anopheles mosquito (Suarez 1). Today, we have many doctors to thank. It was through tedious investigations, clinical experiments, and extensive studies that this vaccine was developed. After proving to be significantly effective, Dr. Patarroyo chose to donate it to the World Health Organization, which allowed them to provide free vaccines to pregnant women and children and affordable options to everyone else, rather than accepting the vast amounts of money offered to him (Honigsbaum 1).

Works Cited

Forbes, Jessica, and Karthik Krishnamurthy. "Biochemistry, Peptide." StatPearls [Internet], NIH, August 28, 2023, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK562260/#:~:text=A%20peptide%20is%20a%20short,the%20building%20block%20of%20proteins. Honigsbaum, Mark. "The Monkey Puzzle." The Guardian, 24 Nov. 2001, www.theguardian.com/education/2001/nov/24/research.highereducation. Nosten, F., et al. "Phase I Trial of the SPf66 Malaria Vaccine in a Malaria-Experienced Population in Southeast Asia." The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9180603/. Patarroyo, Manuel E. "Manuel E. Patarroyo." Manuel Patarroyo, n.d., https://courses.washington.edu/uncommon/pages/patarroyo.html. Reed, Walter, et al. "Using infective mosquitoes to challenge monkeys with Plasmodium knowlesi in malaria vaccine studies." Malaria Journal, June 3, 2014, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4070636/ "Renowned Pathobiologist Discusses Vaccinology, Malaria at CVM." VMBS News, August 10, 2021, vetmed.tamu.edu/news/internal-news/renowned-pathobiologist-discusses-vaccinology-malaria-at-cvm/. Suárez, Carlos F., et al. "Structural analysis of owl monkey MHC-DR shows that fully-protective malaria vaccine components can be readily used in humans." Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, vol. 488, no. 2, 2017. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006291X17315486