A new study by NYU Abu Dhabi resulted in a major discovery into natural immunity against malaria.
Blood samples from children from ethnic groups in remote areas of Burkina Faso, and the Gouin and Fulani tribes spread over several countries, were studied to measure their response to the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.
The study uncovered a molecular mechanism that “alters the immune response to infection”.
Why some people have natural protection against disease, while others do not, is a topic of major interest in medicine.
“The inter-ethnic comparison points to a fundamental molecular mechanism that could define the outcome of the infection in children, and it is fascinating how two human groups could diverge functionally in such a way,” said Youssef Idaghdour, NYU Abu Dhabi assistant professor of biology, who carried out the study with colleagues from the Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme in Burkina Faso.
There were 409,000 people killed by malaria in 2019, the most recent figure available from the World Health Organisation.
Most of those who died were young children from sub-Saharan Africa.
"These results will change our understanding of how to achieve better malarial therapeutic interventions and vaccine responsiveness in populations," said Wael Abdrabou, the first author of the paper, which was published in the journal Nature Metabolism.
Abu Dhabi's government and leaders have for many years funded research into and treatment of preventable diseases in the developing world.
Millions of dollars were recently pledged to fight neglected tropical diseases, which can blind, maim and kill hundreds of thousands of people every year – trapping people in the developing world in a cycle of poverty.
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
The biog
Born: Kuwait in 1986
Family: She is the youngest of seven siblings
Time in the UAE: 10 years
Hobbies: audiobooks and fitness: she works out every day, enjoying kickboxing and basketball
Fixtures
Wednesday
4.15pm: Japan v Spain (Group A)
5.30pm: UAE v Italy (Group A)
6.45pm: Russia v Mexico (Group B)
8pm: Iran v Egypt (Group B)
BABYLON
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Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
