Malaria culture

Malaria culture is the method to grow malaria parasites outside the body i.e. in an ex vivo environment. Although attempts for propagation of the parasites outside of humans or animal models reach as far back as 1912, the success of the initial attempts was limited to one or just a few cycles. The first successful continuous culture was established in 1976. Initial hopes that the ex vivo culture would lead quickly to the discovery of a vaccine were premature. However, the development of new drugs was greatly facilitated.

Infected human red blood cells are incubated in a culture dish or flask at 37 °C together with a nutrient medium and plasma, serum or serum substitutes. A special feature of the incubation is the special gas mixture of mostly nitrogen (93% nitrogen, 4% carbondioxide, 3% oxygen) allowing the parasites to grow at 37 °C in a cell incubator. An alternative to gasing the cultures with the exact gas mixture, is the use of a candlejar. The candlejar is an airtight container in which the cultures and a lit candle are placed. The burning candle consumes some of the oxygen and produces carbon dioxide (CO₂), which acts as a fire extinguisher. Carbon dioxide content in fresh air varies between 0.036% and 0.039%, at an app. 5% CO₂ concentration the candle stops burning. The number of parasites increased by a factor 5 approximately every 48 hours (= one cycle). The parasitemia can be determined via blood film, to keep it within the wanted limits, the culture can be thinned out with healthy red blood cells.

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