The aim of my project was to discover proteins and genes that protect people from malaria, and use this knowledge develop new medications that may potentially avoid the problem of drug-resistance. We know that during the co-evolution of humans and the malarial parasite, called Plasmodium, the human genome has undergone specific changes that enable survival to the infection, which are visible today as mutations in particular genes. My project investigated a set of such genes that encode enzymes used to synthesise haem. Haem is important for red blood cells to transport oxygen. It is produced...