You never know what you've got till it's gone.. (English proverb) Those that lie down with dogs, get up with fleas. (Native American proverb, Blackfoot) They kill the peacock for the beauty of its feathers.. (Arabic proverb) Who does well, meets goodwill. (Dutch proverb)
Currently there are medicines available to treat falciparum malaria-the most prevalent form of the disease in Africa-but this requires a 3-day treatment course. Ideally, we need a drug that needs just one administration to ensure that treatment can be directly observed by the healthcare worker.
Because the malaria species Plasmodium vivax normally uses DARC to enter red blood cells, people who carry this mutation are resistant to one strain of malaria. This particular strain of malaria is not a major killer in Africa today, but was likely more threatening in the past. Biologists reason that the DARC mutant arose in Africa through random mutation and began to spread through the process of natural selection.