On the genetics of malaria parasites, a memoir: Part I, rodent malaria parasites and the first genetic crosses.

In this abbreviated extract of his memoirs of a life in malaria research, Richard Carter (1945-2021) describes the beginnings of malaria parasite genetics research at Edinburgh university, culminating in the first laboratory genetic cross between two strains of malaria parasites. EDITORS' NOTE: This manuscript is an abridged excerpt from Richard Carter's first volume of memoirs describing his career in malaria research. Both volumes, the first concerning malaria parasite genetics, the second focussing on transmission and transmission blocking, are housed in the Wellcome Collection, London [1,2]. Electronic copies of the unabridged memoirs are available to the interested reader upon request to the Editors. These memoirs began as a series of 'recollections' written to a PhD student in March 2014, and were expanded and revised by the author up to 2018. Apart from abridgement, the text is presented in its original form, preserving the informal style in which it was written.