Critique of Primary Parasitology Research Paper

Assignment Brief

Coursework I – Parasitology 2019

Paper critique 1000-word summary and critique of primary research paper

In less than 1000 words summarize the paper.

Do not use bullet points. You are aiming to communicate clearly not just deposit information on the page. Someone with a good understanding of biology but who is not completely familiar with this field should understand what you have written. This should be written as a coherent piece of prose. It is not a short answer question – your answer should be intelligible to someone who has not read the paper.

Critical thinking and creative thinking are essential (sections 2 and 3 give you the opportunity to demonstrate these skills). The word limit is short – you will have to write clearly and concisely and make decisions as to what is important to include.

In your summary you should include the following subheadings and sections:

Subheading 1: Introduction and major conclusion

Introduce the topic addressed, briefly outline the overall strategy, and clearly state the major conclusion and implications of the paper.

Subheading 2: Key experiments

In this section you should outline how the two most important experiments were done – explain why you consider these to be important experiments and what the conclusions are (you do not need to go through the supplementary figures etc).

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the experiments/conclusions/ideas. You should discuss results/conclusions and why you think they are important.

Subheading 3: Future work

Describe the two experiments that you would do next if you worked on this project (specify the question that will be addressed and why it is important)? The experiments that you propose should build on the ideas proposed in the paper. You should explain what results you might expect to see.

Sample Answer

Inhibition of Malaria Parasite Transmission by Targeting Mosquito Midgut Receptors

Introduction and Major Conclusion

This study investigates a novel approach to reducing malaria transmission by targeting mosquito midgut receptors essential for the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum to infect the mosquito. Malaria remains a major public health issue, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where traditional control methods such as insecticide-treated nets and antimalarial drugs face increasing resistance. The researchers aimed to interrupt the parasite’s life cycle within the mosquito, thereby halting transmission to humans.

To achieve this, the team used a combination of molecular biology and immunology to identify midgut surface proteins in Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes that are necessary for the parasite’s development. They hypothesised that blocking these proteins would prevent P. falciparum from successfully invading and developing within the mosquito gut.

The major conclusion of the paper is that a specific midgut receptor, named AGMP1, is critical for the parasite’s development in mosquitoes. Antibodies against AGMP1 significantly reduced parasite load in the midgut. This suggests a promising new strategy for malaria control through transmission-blocking vaccines (TBVs) that target mosquito molecules rather than the parasite directly. The implication is significant: a human vaccine generating antibodies against mosquito proteins could reduce malaria transmission even in the presence of drug-resistant parasites or insecticide-resistant mosquitoes.

Key Experiments

The first key experiment involved identifying and validating the AGMP1 receptor as essential for parasite invasion. Using RNA sequencing, the researchers compared gene expression in the midguts of mosquitoes that had fed on infected versus uninfected human blood. AGMP1 was consistently upregulated in infected midguts. To test its role, they used RNA interference (RNAi) to silence AGMP1 expression in mosquitoes. These mosquitoes were then fed infected blood. After seven days, the parasite load was quantified using microscopy and PCR. Silencing AGMP1 led to an 80% reduction in parasite numbers compared to control mosquitoes.

This experiment is important because it directly links AGMP1 to parasite development in the mosquito and demonstrates that knocking it down reduces infection. A key strength is the use of both genetic and molecular techniques to validate the role of AGMP1. However, one limitation is that RNAi can have off-target effects, and the authors did not fully explore whether other genes were also affected by the knockdown. A further control using a rescue experiment (re-introducing AGMP1) would have strengthened their conclusion.

The second critical experiment tested whether antibodies against AGMP1 could block transmission. Mice were immunised with recombinant AGMP1 protein, and their sera were collected. The sera were then fed to mosquitoes together with infected blood through a membrane feeding assay. Parasite numbers in the mosquito midgut were again measured after seven days. The presence of anti-AGMP1 antibodies led to a 70% reduction in parasite load compared to control sera.

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