About 40 per cent of the world's population is at risk for malaria. An estimated 300 million to 500 million people worldwide contract the disease each year, and as many as 1 million of them die each year, a large majority of them are children under five.

Recent reports from Cambodia suggest that currently effective anti-malarial drugs are beginning to lose their effectiveness as the most virulent malaria strain develops resistance.

Pennsylvania State University materials scientists Dinesh Agrawal and Jiping Cheng are working to develop a process which uses low-power microwaves to destroy malaria parasites in the blood minus any medication. Their research has been further boosted by a donation from The Gates Foundation.



How it works
Using microwaves might sound dangerous but the scientists have a sound theory behind it.

This novel method uses a low-power microwave to heat up the malaria parasite in the blood stream.

“Microwaves heat the malaria parasite causes it to die without harming normal blood cells,” says Agrawal, who is director of the Microwave Processing and Engineering Centre and an authority on microwave engineering at the Penn State University.

“Microwave interactions are unique. The parasite has extra iron that enhances the microwave energy absorption by the malaria parasite. As a result, it is postulated that the deadly parasite gets heated preferentially and is killed without affecting any of the normal blood cells.”

The method seems to work well in the initial trails, giving hope to millions of affected around the world.

On to phase II

The first phase which tested the microwave process in a laboratory culture showed positive results.

But the researchers plan a second phase that will use a larger system and test the process in animal models by using mice infected with the malaria parasite.

At the same time they would also be looking for any dangerous side-effects that could harm the patient.


Jiping Cheng and Dinesh Agrawal in the microwave lab at the Penn State University
If those tests are successful, Agrawal says, the next step will be to design and build an affordable system to treat human beings.

A probable malaria microwaving device might look a lot like a modern airport scanner and could work just like an airport scanner does. Just walk-in and walk-out to be malaria free.

“That could be revolutionary,” Agrawal says.

It would mean getting rid of a malarial infection could be much easier than probably getting rid of a cold.

Reducing the mortality worldwide with this cheap and affordable method of treatment.

However, this revolutionary treatment might take a while to see the light of day as it is yet to be animal tested and its long term effects are still as of yet unknown.
**Source: Mumbai Mirror Bureau