Evolutionary perspectives on malaria

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Classically called one of the strongest selective pressures in human evolution, I will discuss the ongoing host and pathogen pressures shaping malaria parasites. First, considering the added information that distributions of genetic ancestry provide, we infer rapid adaptation to P. vivax malaria in humans from the islands of Cabo Verde. Then, we consider the broader spectrum of malaria parasites across primates to begin to ask why some impact human evolution and disease burden more than others. To do this, we will first need new population-genetic methods to interpret patterns of variation in malaria parasites given their complex lifecycles.