Bharath Balu's Most Notable Contribution to Malaria Research

PRLog (Press Release) - Jan. 29, 2013 - While Bharath Balu has made several discoveries during his examination of the malaria parasite, there was one development of which he is most proud, and that is of a forward genetic technique called transposon-based insertional mutagenesis.

In order to fully understand the scope of Bharath Balu’s work in the research field, it’s vital to understand a few key scientific characterizations. First, the term “mutagenesis,” simply means the process by which the genetic evidence of an organism is altered in a constant manner. This results in a mutation. Further, mutagenesis of DNA by the insertion of one or more bases is called insertional mutagenesis, and this can occur inherently, arbitrated either by virus or transposon, or it can be artificially created for research purposes in the lab.

Bharath Balu contributed to research developed to a forward genetic technique called transposon-based insertional mutagenesis, so it’s also vital to altogether cognize the term “transposon,” which occurs when a DNA sequence changes its position within the genome. A genome houses the hereditary information of an organism.

Now that it’s clear the nature of Bharath Balu’s scientific research in terms of transposon-based insertional mutagenesis, it’s vital to understand the nature of his contribution. He, along with three other talented research scientists, performed studies and gathered information that will hopefully help unlock further genetic findings about the lethal malaria parasite.

In particular, the abstract of PNAS, Preceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the prestigious journal which published the results of their findings, notes: “We have developed an efficient transposon-mediated insertional mutagenesis method much needed for high-throughput functional genomics of malaria parasites.” Because of their work, the piggyBac transposition system is able to be utilized as an effectual, random integration tool for large-scale, whole-genome mutagenesis of malaria parasites.

Beyond the noted publication, Bharath Balu( http://bharathbalu1.tumblr.com/ )has published 20 different articles in scholarly journals, all relating to the scientific research he conducted in his field. He has dedicated 15 years of his life to scientific research, and it’s effortless to see that he has a passion for helping the world overcome the devastation that the human malaria parasite has caused.