Malaria drug resistance: An alternative for detection in the field

According to the World Malaria Report, there were 219 million cases of malaria globally during 2017, resulting in 435,000 malaria deaths. Drug resistance poses one of the greatest threats to malaria control and results in increased malaria morbidity and mortality. Vanderbilt University biomedical engineers have discovered how to rapidly detect critical information about malaria drug resistance almost instantly from a patient's single drop of blood. Joining me today to discuss this quick DNA test is Mindy Leelawong. PhD. Dr Leelawong is a research assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Vanderbilt University.