Malaria bug goes bananas before sex

Scientists claim to have solved a 130-year-old mystery by revealing that the malaria parasite adopts a banana shape before sexual reproduction to sneak into spleen, a finding which may pave the way for vaccines against the disease which kills 600,000 people each year globally.

A team at the University of Melbourne says its finding may explain how the parasite evades the human immune system, thus providing a potential target for vaccine or drug development.

Matthew Dixon, who led the team, said the research finally cracked the 130-yearold puzzle, revealing how the most deadly of human malaria parasites, Plasmodium falciparum, performs its shape-shifting.

"In 1880, the banana or crescent shape of the malaria parasite was first seen in the blood of a patient. Using a 3D microscope technique, we reveal that malaria uses a scaffold of special proteins to form a banana shape before sexual reproduction ," Dixon said in a release by the university.