Sibley Carol Hopkins
World Wide Antimalarial Resistance Network, Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-5065, USA.
Mol Biochem Parasitol. 2014 Jul;195(2):107-14. doi: 10.1016/j.molbiopara.2014.06.001. Epub 2014 Jun 10.
The worlds of basic scientists and those involved in treating patients and making public health decisions do not always intersect. Yet, assuring that when patients are treated, they are efficiently and completely cured, and that public health decisions are based on solid evidence requires a broad foundation of up to date basic research. Research on the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum provides a useful illustration of the role that basic scientific studies have played in the very long relationship between humans and this deadly parasite. Drugs have always been a principal tool in malaria treatment. The ongoing struggle between evolution of resistance to antimalarials by the parasite and public health responses is used here as an illustration of the key contributions of basic scientists to this long history.
基础科学家的世界与那些参与治疗患者和做出公共卫生决策的人的世界并不总是相交的。然而，要确保患者在接受治疗时能够高效且完全治愈，并且公共卫生决策基于确凿的证据，就需要广泛的最新基础研究作为支撑。对疟原虫——恶性疟原虫的研究，很好地说明了基础科学研究在人类与这种致命寄生虫的长期关系中所发挥的作用。药物一直是疟疾治疗的主要工具。寄生虫对抗疟药物的耐药性演变与公共卫生应对措施之间持续不断的斗争，在此被用来说明基础科学家对这段悠久历史所做出的关键贡献。
