Why in news?
- A researcher’s team from the Indian Council of Medical Research’s Jabalpur-based National Institute of Research in Tribal Health has identified Glutamate dehydrogenase as a new biomarker in the body of the malaria parasite for malaria detection.
- This discovery will help in better understanding and research on the disease.
What are biomarkers?
A biomarker is a measurable indicator of the severity or presence of some disease state. Biomarkers can be specific cells, molecules, genes, gene products, enzymes or hormones. They help to understand the relationship between specific substances in the environment and human conditions or diseases.
Malaria:
- Blood disease caused by Plasmodium infectious parasites transmitted by mosquito bites.
- Female anopheles mosquitoes inject sporozoites on the human host’s surface.
- Malaria is the leading cause of human disease and death.
- As per WHO reports, there are still 212 million new cases of malaria and 430,000 malaria-related deaths each year.
- Sub-Saharan African countries have the bulk of cases (80%) and deaths (90%).
