Tracking the Evolution Of an Ancient Killer.

Malaria is an ancient and persistent disease. It wasn't eradicated in the United States until the 1950s, and it is still devastating in developing countries around the world. The latest estimate from the World Health Organization is that in 2008 the disease killed more than a million people and afflicted 247 million others. Scientists have long speculated about just how ancient the disease is, and when the human malaria parasite originated, with wildly varying estimates from 10,000 years to several million years ago. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]