In a world where most up‐to‐date information can be gained easily and cheaply by a PubMed search for the most appropriate review article on any subject, the role of the textbook increasingly appears redundant. Books such as Molecular approaches to malaria, however, reaffirm the value of a good textbook.
Malaria continues to be one of the most important causes of death and illness worldwide. There are about half a billion cases of malaria and around two million deaths occur annually, mostly in children in sub‐Saharan Africa. Despite having effective treatment for malaria (quinine) for over 300 years and a knowledge of the biology of the causative agent for over a hundred years, the number of deaths from malaria continue to rise. Large investments have been made in malaria research during the past two decades. Consequently, the disciplines of cell and molecular biology of Plasmodium falciparum have expanded dramatically, with, for example, the sequencing of the P falciparum genome, novel insights into metabolism and also the molecular basis of drug resistance.
The recent development of fosmidomycin, a new malaria drug, gives an excellent example of how understanding the apparently obscure topic of apicoplast metabolism can lead to the identification of a new class of drugs that are now in clinical development. This new knowledge of the biology of malaria along with rapidly expanding knowledge of gene expression and proteomics will continue to provide valuable insights into the pathogenesis of malaria and further treatments for this disease. Molecular approaches to malaria brings together all these topics in one clear and comprehensive textbook.
There is also the fascination of the biology of an organism with many stages, which is perfectly adapted to live in both vertebrate and invertebrate hosts in different stages of its complex life cycle. This book is not intended for a casual non‐specialised readership, but should prove invaluable to anyone working in the field of malaria or with a special interest in this intriguing and important disease.
This book is structured into six sections with 27 chapters. These chapters cover a broad range of topics from cell biology to metabolism and immune evasion. There are also useful chapters on the use of internet resources for malaria research and techniques for genetic manipulation of P falciparum.
As with any multi‐authored textbook, the chapters are of variable quality, but on the whole the writing is first class, albeit dense. The chapters are written by the appropriate world experts, complete with up‐to‐date references (many from 2005). The editing is excellent, with little overlap between chapters, coherent style and clear indexing. My only (small) gripe is that all the colour plates are in one section, which means switching pages often. This is a comprehensive text book that is authoritative and easy to read, and I look forward to putting my copy to good use in the future.