Olivo Miotto1,2,3 and Mallika Imwong1,4
- Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK
- MRC Centre for Genomics and Global Health, Big Data Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Department of Molecular Tropical Medicine and Genetics, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
Correspondence to Olivo Miotto (PhD),
Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, 420/6 Rajvithi Road, Ratchathewi, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand. Email: Olivo@tropmedres.ac
Abstract
The elimination of malaria is a public health priority in the Greater Mekong Subregion, where the spread of drug-resistant strains has undermined progress and threatens worldwide drug efficacy. Recent advances have increased the availability of genotyping technologies which can support these elimination efforts, alongside other established clinical and epidemiological methods. For example, genotyping can be used to estimate the prevalence of genetic markers of resistance in malaria parasite populations. A wide spectrum of genotyping technologies is available and it is important to appreciate the differences between the different approaches, and their suitability for different applications and different settings. We review a number of the most common genotyping technologies available, and discuss some of the key considerations that must be evaluated when choosing an approach for monitoring drug resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria.
Keywords: genotyping technologies, drug-resistant malaria, genetic surveillance