SammyKer1/Malaria---Drug--Resistance--Bioinformatics

Malaria caused by P. falciparum is a major health problem in Nigeria. Drug resistance threatens control efforts. This project retrieved DNA sequences of kelch13, pfcrt, and pfmdr1 from NCBI and used BLAST to identify homologs and assess similarity to reference strains for surveillance of artemisinin, chloroquine and multidrug resistance. # Malaria---Drug--Resistance--Bioinformatics Malaria caused by P. falciparum is a major health problem in Nigeria. Drug resistance threatens control efforts. This project retrieved DNA sequences of kelch13, pfcrt, and pfmdr1 from NCBI and used BLAST to identify homologs and assess similarity to reference strains for surveillance of artemisinin, chloroquine and multidrug resistance. Project Overview Malaria caused by *Plasmodium falciparum* is a major public health problem in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa. The emergence and spread of drug resistance threatens malaria control efforts. This project focuses on 3 key genes associated with antimalarial drug resistance: 1. **kelch13 (PF3D7_1343700)** - linked to artemisinin resistance 2. **pfcrt (PF3D7_0709000)** - linked to chloroquine resistance 3. **pfmdr1 (PF3D7_0523000)** - linked to multidrug resistance including chloroquine, mefloquine and lumefantrine The objective is to retrieve DNA sequences of these genes from NCBI and use BLAST to identify homologous sequences and assess similarity to reference strains for molecular surveillance. Objectives - Retrieve reference gene sequences from NCBI Gene/Nucleotide databases - Perform NCBI BLASTN analysis to identify homologs - Compare percent identity and coverage to *P. falciparum* 3D7 reference strain - Document findings for public health surveillance in Nigeria Methods 1. Sequence retrieval from NCBI 2. BLASTN search and result analysis 3. Data compilation and documentation Tools Used - **NCBI** - Gene, Nucleotide, BLAST - **GitHub** - Version control and portfolio Author Samuel Kenter Ker Undergraduate Researcher | Bioinformatics + Public Health Lagos, Nigeria samuelker244@gmail.com