Edem Adika loading a flow cell in Accra. Credit: William Hamilton
Key points:
- Scientists working in Ghana developed an on-site technique to rapidly and reliably detect genetic changes in malaria parasites.
- The team’s genetic surveillance technique is an accessible, low cost, near real-time approach that only requires a gaming laptop and a portable MiniON sequencer.
- The sequencing data from the study can guide local interventions and policy, including the need for ongoing monitoring to protect high-risk groups and the role of genomic surveillance in shaping vaccine rollouts.
Scientists have developed a technique to rapidly and reliably detect genetic changes in malaria parasites using just a gaming laptop and a portable MinION sequencer.
Genomic surveillance—the continuous monitoring of changes in a parasite’s DNA—allows scientists to analyze the genomic data behind parasite drug resistance. The process is typically carried out in labs in high-income, non-malaria endemic countries.
Now, a study published in Nature Microbiology, details an accessible, near real-time technology to monitor parasite mutations within the communities most affected by malaria.
Researchers utilized standard molecular biology equipment for collecting parasites from blood samples. They then sequenced and analyzed the malaria parasite DNA using the portable MinION device and a laptop computer to detect drug resistance markers. The sequencing process was successfully completed in about 48 hours at both an urban hospital in Accra and a rural town, while only costing about £27 per sample in batches of 96.
“By taking sequencing to the source, insights arrive in days rather than years – enabling rapid, localized responses,” explained co-first author Edem Adike of University of Ghana. “This unprecedented speed promises to be a powerful game-changer against infectious diseases outpacing our countermeasures.”
The sequencing indicated that current frontline treatments remain widely effective against local malaria strains in Ghana. It also identified multiple genetic differences between circulating malaria strains and the protein targeted by newly recommended malaria vaccines.
Importantly, the results of this study point to the need for ongoing monitoring to protect high-risk groups that receive targeted interventions. Additionally, surveilling genetic differences may shape vaccine rollouts across Africa.
“The repeated evolution and spread of resistance to key antimalarial drugs has thwarted efforts to eliminate malaria over the last 70 years,” said senior author William Hamilton of Wellcome Sanger Institute. “Expanding molecular surveillance in Africa is now critical for tracking emerging drug and diagnostic test resistance, and informing interventions like new vaccines.”