Infections Develop Via a Sequence of Biological Steps

A prior post listed 7 assertions regarding the role of infectious organisms on the human genome. In the next few blogs we ' ll look at each assertion, in excerpts fromPrecision Medicine and the Reinvention of Human Disease. Here ' s the seventh:By dissecting the biological steps involved in the pathogenesis of infectious disease, it is possible to develop new treatments, other than antibiotics, that will be effective against a range of related organisms. Nature, by interfering with the different steps in the development of infectious diseases, has a variety of protective mechanisms against organisms. For example, to defend against malaria, nature has preserved various mutations that render red cells unsuitable hosts for malarial guests. For example, individuals with hemoglobin variants HbS (sickle cell trait), HbC, and HbE increase the likelihood that an infected red cell will lyse. Likewise, but for obscure reasons, regulatory defects in hemoglobin synthesis, as seen in thalassemia, may also confer some protection against malaria. Also, variations in a structural protein of erythrocytes, SLC4A1, causing ovalocytosis; and polymorphisms of the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase gene [57] both seem to protect against malaria. We see individuals resistant to malaria due to absence of the Duffy protein required for Plasmodium vivax to bind and enter erythrocytes [58]. Knowing this, the Duffy-binding protein in the malaria parasite is now being studied as a potential drug or vaccin...
Source: Specified Life - Category: Information Technology Tags: biological steps infections disease pathogenesis precision medicine Source Type: blogs