Advancements in transfection technologies for Plasmodium

Malaria is a global problem that affects millions of people annually. A relatively poor understanding of the malaria parasite biology has hindered vaccine and drug development against this disease. Robust methods for genetic analyses in Plasmodium have been lacking due to the difficulties in its genetic manipulation. Introduction of transfection technologies laid the foundation for genetic dissection of Plasmodium and recent years have seen the development of novel tools for genetic manipulation that will help us delineate the intriguing biology of this parasite. This review focuses on such recent advances in transfection technologies for Plasmodium that have improved our ability to carry out more thorough genetic analyses of the biology of the malaria parasite.