With victims numbering in the millions, malaria is an infectious disease caused by the bite of a mosquito carrying the malaria parasite. After penetrating the skin, the pathogen moves with helical trajectories. It almost always turns toward the right, as a team of physicists and malaria researchers from the groups of Ulrich Schwarz and Freddy Frischknecht recently discovered. Using high-resolution imaging techniques combined with computer simulations, the researchers demonstrated that the pathogen uses these right-handed helices to control its motion as it transitions from one tissue compartment to another. This motion pattern is made possible by the heretofore unexplained asymmetry in the body plan of the single-celled organism. According to the researchers, their findings could help to improve testing of new drugs and vaccines.

Read more at the University Heidelberg newsroom or find the research paper here.