Whole Genome Sequencing Contributions and Challenges in Disease Reduction Focused on Malaria

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Malaria is one of the most severe life-threatening human vector-borne diseases worldwide today, leading to high mortality. Children under the age of five and pregnant women in many developing countries are the most vulnerable groups. However, significant reduction has been achieved globally. This is owed to the advancement in technology. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) is such a high throughput technology, which provides unprecedented relevant information concerning malaria parasite genomes used to study malaria pathology. Here, we present the roles of WGS in malaria elimination. This review also found insufficient availability of WGS within sub-Saharan Africa which bears the highest malaria burden and proposed that if malaria elimination is to be achieved in this region, laboratories should be strategically equipped with WGS machines, where clinical isolates could be received and processed affordably within the region. ABSTRACT: Malaria elimination remains an important goal that requires the adoption of sophisticated science and management strategies in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. The advent of next generation sequencing (NGS) is making whole genome sequencing (WGS) a standard today in the field of life sciences, as PCR genotyping and targeted sequencing provide insufficient information compared to the whole genome. Thus, adapting WGS approaches to malaria parasites is pertinent to studying the epidemiology of the disease, as different regions are at different phases in their malaria elimination agenda. Therefore, this review highlights the applications of WGS in disease management, challenges of WGS in controlling malaria parasites, and in furtherance, provides the roles of WGS in pursuit of malaria reduction and elimination. WGS has invaluable impacts in malaria research and has helped countries to reach elimination phase rapidly by providing required information needed to thwart transmission, pathology, and drug resistance. However, to eliminate malaria in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with high malaria transmission, we recommend that WGS machines should be readily available and affordable in the region.