A Rare Blood Type Variant Helps Prevent Malaria. Now We Finally Know How – ScienceAlert

A rare blood variant, found only in parts of East Africa, can help the body resist malaria even better than our best vaccines.
Now, scientists think they’ve figured out how this is possible – and it’s not a defence we’ve considered before.
Malaria is caused by five species of mosquito-borne plasmodium parasites, which claim the lives of half a million people worldwide, many of whom are children.
The disease works by infiltrating our red blood cells, using a ‘lock-and-key’ system. While much v…

Click here to view the original article.