A cure for Malaria without drugs
Our idea was able to convince the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to fund Phase I and Phase II of our project. We want to change completely the way to treat malaria.
Drug Discovery from Natural Products
Conservation, capacitation and drug discovery from Panamanian nature: putting a value to our biodiversity
Discovery of the “X receptor” of P. falciparum invasion
Plasmodium falciparum is a highly lethal malaria parasite of humans. A major portion of its life cycle is dedicated to invading and multiplying inside erythrocytes.
Synthetic Biology
Synthetic biology first made its way into our lab through the Genetically Engineered Machines project (iGEM), and has stayed on thanks to a project to build a biosensor for cyanide.
Communication signals in P. falciparum
Unicellular microorganisms are able to communicate. Signals between the parasite and its vector could take place in the form of volatile compounds. Intracellular P. falciparum prefers to use Extracellular Vesicles that carry messages in their cargo. Other ways of communication await to be discovered.