Doctoral Dissertation Research: Exploring the Origins of Malaria Using Ancient DNA

The human species has been shaped by many biological and cultural processes, including the infectious diseases we have experienced over the millennia and our responses to those events. Given the ongoing threat of emerging infectious disease, understanding the ways in which humans and pathogens impacted one another in the past can inform infectious disease research in the present.

This doctoral dissertation project examines the origins and evolution of the disease pathogen responsible for the deadliest form of human malaria (P. falciparum). This pathogen is thought to have evolved through the transfer of a gorilla parasite to humans, but the timing and anthropological context for this event and malaria’s subsequent global spread remain poorly understood.

The project traces malaria’s evolutionary history through analysis of both ancient P. falciparum genomes and related great ape parasites. The project also generates new methods and tools that can be applied in other genomic research projects, fosters student training and international research collaborations, and generates new resources for public science education and outreach.

The project is part of an international collaborative effort of geneticists and primatologists to reconstruct genomes from ancient Plasmodium falciparum and related great ape parasites. Using genomic analyses to estimate when P. falciparum first emerged as a human parasite, the co-PI and colleagues explore whether specific ecological and/or cultural factors, particularly the adoption or diversification of agriculture, may have favored this zoonotic event.

Comparing ancient and modern parasite genomes, the investigators explore the timing and route of malaria’s global dissemination to understand the impact of human mobility on pathogen dispersal in the past. This project is anticipated to generate valuable, concrete resources for the broader scientific community, including genome-wide data from ancient Plasmodium falciparum and wild-living gorilla Plasmodium parasites.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.