africans

(McGill University) A McGill University parasitology researcher has received a $100,000 grant from the Gates Foundation to help establish locally controlled pharmaceutical-research programs in Botswana and South Africa.

A genetic variation which evolved to protect people of African descent against malaria has now been shown to increase their susceptibility to HIV infection by up to 40 percent, according to new research.

Conversely, the same variation also appears to prolong survival of those infected with HIV by approximately two years.

Differences in gene expression levels between people of European versus African ancestry can affect how each group responds to certain drugs or fights off specific infections.

An unbiased whole-genome approach found significant differences in several processes.