Sequencing a 23-megabase genome hardly sounds like a triumph--that's just twice the size of an average yeast genome and one-hundredth of the human genome. Yet, there was cause for celebration after a high-profile team of collaborators closed all but 93 gaps in the sequence of Plasmodium falciparum, the most deadly and endemic human malarial parasite. Besides infecting nearly 500 million people and killing an estimated 2 million annually, this single-celled terror presented a formidable sequencing task: Its genome's dense A-T content made it difficult to clone.
Now, with the genome in hand,1 the sequences for its mosquito2 and human hosts available, a rodent model3 in the ready, and a slew of proteomic data4 already compiled, scientists hope to tease out enough information to defeat a disease rivaled only by AIDS and tuberculosis as the world's most important health problem. But, scientists are tempering their giddiness. "We don't want to glorify ...
