Provide Human Reticulocytes for in vitro Culturing of Malaria Parasites

The parasite Plasmodium vivax, transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito, is the second major cause of malaria worldwide and the major cause of malaria outside Africa. The infection is characterized by a chronic course of malaria with acute episodes of relapse after months to years of asymptomatic dormancy. Research focusing on P. vivax has been hindered by lack of a practical continuous culture system as the parasite preferentially invades young erythrocytes (reticulocytes), which are difficult to obtain routinely and in high enough numbers. To address this critical need, ChromoLogic, LLC, (CL) proposes to leverage the expertise of its biologists in this area by developing a genetically modified human cell line to acquire essential features that serve as artificial reticulocytes (Art-Ret) so as to provide the Army a consistent, reliable and sufficient number of surrogate cells that are capable of being invaded by the P. vivax malaria and ensure long term culturing of the parasite.