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For the first time a malaria vaccine is to be tested for possible inclusion in national immunization programmes. Malcolm Molyneux tells Fiona Fleck why governments may need to work hard to convince people of its benefits.

This month's Genome Watch describes how knowledge of the malaria parasite genome can be used to better understand and mitigate the emergence of drug resistance.

This week, an almost complete DNA sequence of Plasmodium falciparum--one of the parasites that causes malaria--appears in Nature, and on page 129 of this issue of Science, other researchers report the DNA sequence of Anopheles gambiae, one of the mosquitoes that transmits P. falciparum to humans. Together with the human genome sequence, researchers now have in hand the genetic blueprints for the parasite, its vector, and its victim.

As drug resistance renders cheap antimalarials ineffective, a promising candidate has emerged from an overlooked source: Asia. Used as herbal remedies in China for 2000 years, artemisinins haven't yet been approved for clinical use in Western countries. But abundant clinical data show that a water-soluble form called artesunate knocks down the number of parasites in the blood faster than any other drug does.