Malaria parasite’s invasion of blood cells tweezed apart

Using extremely tiny tweezers made with a laser, scientists are beginning to pull apart how the malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium falciparum invades red blood cells. Measurements made with the laser-based tweezers show that the cellular interactions between a malaria-causing parasite and a red blood cell are relatively weak. The results, published August 19 in the Biophysics Journal, suggest that these weak interactions could be blocked with a combination of drugs or antibodies, possibly offering a way to squash the spread of the infectious disease.