Continuous culture of Plasmodium falciparum: its impact on malaria research

The methods developed by us in 1976 for the continuous culture of the erythrocytic stages of Plasmodium falciparum make this organism available to a large variety of scientists. As a result, much has been learned about P. falciparum during the past 20 years. Here we attempt to emphasize recent developments in the diverse aspects for which the culture method has been particularly useful: chemotherapy; drug resistance; vaccine development; pathogenesis; export of proteins into the host cell; cell biology, the mitochondrion and the plastid; innate resistance involving mutant human erythrocytes; gametocytogenesis; genetics, transfection; molecular biology; biochemistry; extracellular cultivation. (C) 1997 Australian Society for Parasitology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.