Scientists have opened a new door to understanding the genetic makeup of malaria after breaking open the mysterious 'black box'.

Researchers at National Jewish Health and Yale University School of Medicine used a new approach to discover a new gene involved in lipid synthesis, and it is hoped in the future it could be used to find more genetic characteristics.

Dennis Voelker, PhD, Professor of Medicine at National Jewish Health and senior author on the paper, said: "The malarial genome has been a black box. Our technique allows us to open that box, so that we can learn what genes in the most lethal human parasite actually do.

"This could prove tremendously valuable in the fight against a disease that has become increasingly drug-resistant."

According to the World Health Organization, there were an estimated 216 million cases of malaria and an estimated 655,000 deaths in 2010. Four parasites are known to cause malaria in humans; Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium ovale.

Plasmodium falciparum, the most deadly cause of malaria in humans, had its genome sequenced a decade ago, but its genetic functions are still largely unknown.

Traditional methods of discovering gene function involved copying a gene and inserting it into model organism, often yeast. Once the yeast has grown the scientists can use the information already available about its genetic variants to find how this gene changes its biology.

However, this has not been possible with P.falciparum, as it is rich in A and Ts and often does not function within other organisms, hindering research into its genetics.

The team behind the latest research discovered P. knowlesi is extremely similar to P.falciparum, but with fewer A and Ts, and this means it can function within the yeast.

Once the functions of its genes have been determined in the model, they can then match these to the corresponding genes in P.falciparum.

Dr Voelker said: "This technique could lead to an explosion in knowledge about malaria and the parasite that causes it."