No. 110/2019

Very early on, the Kenyan Faith Osier dreamt of developing a vac- cine to combat malaria. Every year in Africa, more than 400,000 peo- ple die of the infectious disease, which is caused by single-cell par- asites and transmitted by mosquitos. The focus of Faith Osier’s research is the natural immunity to malaria that people can develop. That is why she and her team in seven African countries examine the blood and antibody response of test subjects who, having contracted malaria once, never suffer from it again. The researchers also study malaria parasites during the various phases of their development. They have identified numerous proteins in the protozoa which malaria researchers had not yet considered. Now they want to investigate in detail how antibodies help to com- bat these proteins. One thing is already clear: the malaria parasite is a particularly tough opponent because different proteins are active in every phase of its life. They offer many potential points of attack for the body’s own immune system. Specialists speak of antigens. “We have to put various antigens in an effective vaccine,” says Osier, “so that our bod- ies use these antigens to form appropriate antibodies that can fight the parasite.” It will still take quite a while before the first vaccines can be man- ufactured. “But we are making progress and are really hopeful.” Text KRISTIN HÜTTMANN DR FAITH H. A. OSIER is a Sofja Kovalevskaja Award Winner head- ing a research group at the German Centre for Infection Research at Heidelberg University Hospital. Photo: Humboldt Foundation/David Spaeth WHAT IS THE KEY TO DEVELOPING A MALARIA VACCINE, MS OSIER? 11 HUMBOLDT KOSMOS 110/2019