Disrupting two genes involved in the preservation of RNA molecules inhibits the ability of the male form of the malaria parasite to mature and be transmitted from human blood into mosquitoes, interrupting a key stage in the parasite’s life-cycle and cutting off an important step in the spread of the disease. Researchers at Penn State and the University of South Florida have identified a complex of proteins encoded by these genes that is crucial for the maturation of the male form—or gametocyte—of the Plasmodium parasite responsible for malaria; developing methods to target this complex with antimalarial drugs could lead to a new weapon in the fight against the disease. A paper describing the research appears January 31, 2019 in the journal PLOS Pathogens.