A new genetic map of the Artemisia annua plant could help fight malaria by removing a bottleneck in medicine production.

Published in Science, the map identifies genes related to the yield of the plant’s anti-malaria compound Artemisinin. This should enable breeders to produce highly productive varieties without recourse to GM technologies.

Artemisinin is the most effective drug in the arsenal of doctors treating malaria, but producing enough to meet world demand has been problematic.

“The map is already proving to be an essential tool for us,” says paper author Ian Graham, of the University of York (press release). “With our new understanding of Artemisia genetics, we can produce improved, non-GM varieties of Artemisia much faster than would otherwise be possible.”

The York team have already grown generations of A. annua in the lab to prove they can make a more robust crop and they intend to have high-yielding seeds to farmers in the next 2 to 3 years.

As an opinion piece accompanying the research in Science notes, even the most productive varieties of A. annua produce only 0.5% Artemisinin by dry weight of plant material. Attempts to produce synthetic versions of the drug have had mixed results, meaning a more effective plant crop could be vital in combating malaria.

This new paper “has placed us on that track” notes the opinion piece, but there is a cloud on the horizon: “The next big hurdle for this molecule will be emerging resistance to the drug.”

Image: A. annua plants / University of York