Contact: Nerissa Hannink
nhannink@unimelb.edu.au
61-430-588-055
University of Melbourne

Life Stages of the Malaria Parasite

Caption: This is an electron tomographic reconstruction of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, showing the different stages of development. Mature parasites (right hand side) degrade hemoglobin in a digestive vacuole (DV) making them susceptible to attack by the antimalarial drug, artemisinin, while immature parasites (left hand side) are less sensitive.

Credit: Dr Eric Hanssen, Advanced Microscopy Facility, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Australia.

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