LASER-BASED TREATMENT FOR MALARIA

Malaria, caused by the parasite Plasmodium, is a devastating disease killing more than 800,000 people a year worldwide. Plasmodium replicates within erythrocytes by digesting hemoglobin, producing haemozoin as a byproduct which accumulates within the parasite. The development of vaccines is hampered by lack of memory immune response, while the long-term effectiveness of current anti-malaria drugs is limited due to the emergence of drug-resistant strains. Furthermore, people who are deficient of the enzyme glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase exhibit fatally-adverse drug effects. To overcome these hurdles, I propose a novel laserbased, non-pharmacological treatment for malaria. The treatment is based on the ability of haemozoin to convert light in the near infra-red into ultra-violet (UV) radiation via Third Harmonic Generation. The UV light produced by haemozoin can in turn kill the parasite. In experiments with infected erythrocytes we obtained a 4-log reduction in parasetemia following six passes of the blood through the laser beam.