intro 2 mins

Mosquitoes can carry the deadly disease malaria as a vector-carried disease. Professor Baden-Wood has developed a diagnostic for malaria using chemistry techniques, specifically ATR spectroscopy. Malaria is transferred by mosquitoes and is caused by a dangerous parasite that can be fatal, especially for children under four years old. The disease becomes extremely dangerous when the parasite lodges in the brain causing hemorrhaging. Mosquitoes, mozzies, little buggers, whatever you call them, we've all been bitten before. But have you ever wondered or panicked, what was that mozzie carrying? Could you be infected? Welcome to Global Challenges, the podcast. Today, we are talking chemistry, chemistry and mosquitoes. We all know how much of a nuisance mozzies can be, but they are more than just a pest. They can be deadly. This is certainly the case with the disease malaria. Malaria is a pretty scary disease, and it's able to sneak around on the backs of mozzies as a vector-carried disease. Today, we're lucky enough to welcome Professor Baden-Wood, who will be speaking with us about this. He is the Director for the Centre of Biospectroscopy and a professor at the Monash University Chemistry Faculty. He has been involved in the creation of a diagnostic for malaria using chemistry techniques, using something called Attenuated Total Reflection Spectroscopy, or for short, ATR spectroscopy. Don't be scared, we'll definitely be talking through this and exploring how Professor Baden has used chemistry to address this life-threatening disease. Welcome Professor Baden and thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to speak with us. Before we get into some complicated chemistry, could you give us some insight into what malaria actually is? Sure. Malaria is a disease transferred by the mosquito vector, and it takes in a very dangerous parasite because when it enters the body, it first goes into the liver, and if you're a child under four years of age, it's fatal. Where it becomes really bad is when the red blood cells develop little spicules on them and they lodge inside the brain and it causes hemorrhaging in the brain, and that's when it becomes fatal.