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Generating Genetically Modified Plasmodium berghei Sporozoites
Published on: May 5, 2023
Can we be sure that the human Plasmodium exoerythrocytic developmental stages occur exclusively in the liver?
Gabriele Franken1, Joachim Richter2, Alfons Labisch3
1Department of History, Theory, and Ethics of Medicine, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany. gabriele.franken@uni-duesseldorf.de.
Abstract:
The development cycle of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium sp., in humans takes place after an infected female Anopheles mosquito injects motile infective forms called sporozoites into the bloodstream. Sporozoites migrate via blood vessels to the liver. This pre-erythrocytic tissue stage is widely accepted to occur in humans exclusively in the liver, contrary to avian malaria where this may occur also in other parenchymatous organs. This concept is based on research conducted by English researchers Henry Shortt and P.C.C. Garnham in the late 1940s. Although Italian researchers as, e.g., Giulio Raffaele, additionally claimed the presence of the parasites in the bone marrow, this is not well acknowledged. So, the question remains whether there exists also a tissue life cycle stage in humans.
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