Hemozoin detection may provide an inexpensive, sensitive, 1-minute malaria test that could revolutionize malaria screening

Malaria remains widespread throughout the tropics and is a burden to the estimated 3.5 billion people who are exposed annually. The lack of a fast and accurate diagnostic method contributes to preventable malaria deaths and its continued transmission. In many areas diagnosis is made solely based on clinical presentation. Current methods for malaria diagnosis take more than 20minutes from the time blood is drawn and are frequently inaccurate. The introduction of an accurate malaria diagnostic that can provide a result in less than 1minute would allow for widespread screening and treatment of endemic populations, and enable regions that have gained a foothold against malaria to prevent its return. Using malaria parasites' waste product, hemozoin, as a biomarker for the presence of malaria could be the tool needed to develop this rapid test.