Hour One: Malaria / Near Earth Asteroids

There are an estimated 300-500 million cases of malaria worldwide each year, and each year the disease claims over a million victims. Malaria kills more people than any other communicable disease except tuberculosis. The direct and indirect costs associated with malaria infections are enormous; costs were over 1.8 billion dollars in 1995 in Africa alone.

Blood-feeding Anopheles gambiae mosquito (CDC/James D. Gathany)

Earlier this summer we told you about progress made in the fight against malaria -- the successful growing of the malaria parasite in fruit flies, and the successful genetic modification of the mosquito that carries the malaria parasite. This week, researchers from the University of Oxford took another step forward, beginning trials of a vaccine for malaria in the Gambia in Africa.

The vaccine, based on fragments of DNA from the malaria parasite, is said to be the first to target the disease after it enters human cells. Other vaccines under study are only effective at attacking the parasite before it infects a human cell. We'll talk to one of the researchers involved in the trial about the vaccine, and about other prospects for malaria control.

Plus - four papers published this week in the journal Science give a close-up look at a near-Earth asteroid. The data for the four papers comes from Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR)-Shoemaker spacecraft's encounter with the asteroid 433 Eros.

Three-dimensional shape of 433 Eros from the NEAR-Shoemaker Laser Rangefinder. (NLR Science Team)

Measurements taken from a laser rangefinder on board the NEAR spacecraft have closely mapped the surface, and have been used to determine the amount of influence that the force of gravity plays in determining the shape of Eros. Another set of instruments, including an infrared spectrometer, an x-ray spectrometer, and a multi-spectral imager, has been examining the light reflected by Eros. That information (in addition to creating pretty pictures) is being used to try to determine the mineral composition of Eros. Finally, calculations done by examining the amount that the NEAR craft's orbit was affected by the presence of Eros have been used to try to calculate the mass and density of the near-Earth neighbor. We'll talk about the recent findings and what they mean.

Listen to this program in RealAudio!

Guests:
Adrian Hill
Professor, Medicine and Human Genetics
Principle Research Fellow, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics
University of Oxford
Oxford, United Kingdom

Richard P. Binzel
Professor, Planetary Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Donald Yeomans
Senior Research Scientist
Radio Science Team Chief
Manager, NASA Near Earth Object Program Office
NASA--Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Pasadena, California

Books/Articles Discussed:

4 articles on asteroid research in Science Magazine (find more SciFri books here)

Search for books on:

Related Links: Malaria Foundation International
Mosquito Genomics WWW
World Health Organization/OMS: Malaria
African Malaria Vaccine Testing Network
NCBI - Malaria Genetics & Genomics
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
MALARIA - DIAGNOSIS, PROPHYLAXIS, TREATMENT

UK NEO Task Force
Near-Earth Object News & Updates
Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Mission
Near Earth Object Program
NEAR-EARTH ASTEROID TRACKING

Groups that monitor asteroids
Spacewatch
NEAT
AMOS
Victoria
Klet
Ondrejov
ODAS

Produced By: Annette Heist and Trevor Thieme
Web Producer: Charles Bergquist