Malaria still a big killer: Epigenetics is key to finding its Achilles heel

Africa is home to 70% of the world's malaria cases and 90% of deaths

Malaria has been a terrible disease throughout human history. Deaths actually peaked over five million in the 1930s and it spread all over the world. Following a first global eradication programme launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) with massive spraying campaigns using the dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) insecticide, Europe was declared malaria free in 1975.

Today, we face a very different scenario. There has been a major reduction in the malaria burden, from millions to about half a million deaths a year in 2018. Even so, malaria is still one of the three leading causes of death in developing