Malaria Diagnosis

Malaria diagnosis; At MVRU, we have been working on new ways to diagnose malaria. We were one of the first research groups to apply Loop Mediate Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) to detect malaria parasites. This technology works by amplifying the target DNA molecule at a single temperature, thus requiring simple instrumentation while maintaining very high detection sensitivity comparable to PCR. Our LAMP assays were created in response to the need of quick and easy diagnosis in the remote sites in Thailand. All types of human malaria parasites can now be detected and differentiated. These tools have helped us find low-density asymptomatic malaria carriers in our study areas.