Microwaves can kill malaria parasites non-thermally.

Malaria, which infected more than 240 million people and killed around six hundred thousand only in 2021, has reclaimed territory after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Together with parasite resistance and a not-yet-optimal vaccine, the need for new approaches has become critical. While earlier, limited, studies have suggested that malaria parasites are affected by electromagnetic energy, the outcomes of this affectation vary and there has not been a study that looks into the mechanism of action behind these responses.

Focused apodized forked grating coupler.

The forked grating coupler (FGC) is an optical vortex interface for silicon photonics. Using the structure of a Bragg grating coupler with a calculated forked hologram, the FGC couples optical vortex modes into confined waveguide modes of a photonic integrated circuit. Design methodologies are given, as well as measured performance data from fabricated devices.

Malarial hemozoin: from target to tool.

Background: Malaria is an extremely devastating disease that continues to affect millions of people each year. A distinctive attribute of malaria infected red blood cells is the presence of malarial pigment or the so-called hemozoin. Hemozoin is a biocrystal synthesized by Plasmodium and other blood-feeding parasites to avoid the toxicity of free heme derived from the digestion of hemoglobin during invasion of the erythrocytes.