All modern Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest malaria parasite in humans, are descendants of one initial infection and so are very closely related, with relatively limited genetic differences. A long-standing mystery in the field has revolved around a very few locations in the P. falciparum genome where there are ‘spikes’ of mutations — far more than anywhere else. Researchers have identified two genes in which these unusual mutation spikes result from DNA being copied and pasted from one gene to another.
All modern Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest malaria parasite in humans, are descendants of one initial infection and so are very closely related, with relatively limited genetic differences. A long-standing mystery in the field has revolved around a very few locations in the P. falciparum genome where there are ‘spikes’ of mutations — far more than anywhere else. Researchers have identified two genes in which these unusual mutation spikes result from DNA being copied and pasted from one gene to another. All modern Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest malaria parasite in humans, are descendants of one initial infection and so are very closely related, with relatively limited genetic differences. A long-standing mystery in the field has revolved around a very few locations in the P. falciparum genome where there are ‘spikes’ of mutations — far more than anywhere else. Researchers have identified two genes in which these unusual mutation spikes result from DNA being copied and pasted from one gene to another.