HAVING two copies of a mutant gene for haemoglobin almost eliminates your risk of developing malaria, say Italian researchers. One in five people they studied in the West African country of Burkina Faso has at least one copy, which they predict will spread through the population.
David Modiano and his colleagues at the University of Rome examined 4348 people835 with the disease and 3513 without. They found that those who were free of the disease were much more likely to carry the
The mutation doesn't stop you being infected with plasmodium, the single-celled parasite that causes malaria. ...
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