SciDev.Net

Encouraging the spread of probiotic foods that promote healthy gut bacteria could help developing countries tackle obesity, says Kingsley Anukam.

Ajaga Nji argues that failing democracies and the selfish influence of donors are dooming healthcare policies and systems.

A test for malaria caused by Plasmodium knowlesi exists, says Balbir Singh, but it isn't routine in rural areas where the disease is common.

Warea Orapa says that tilapia fish — hailed as a method of controlling mosquitoes — can cause damage when introduced into new ecosysems.

There is little resistance to the pesticide pyrethrum at present, but use in bednets could change this, says Christiaan Kooyman.

The African sleeping sickness trials are not enrolling more patients than needed, writes Gerardo Priotto of Doctors Without Borders.

Pierre Druilhe argues that a recent study suggesting that parasitic worm infections limit the risk of malaria describes only part of a complex pattern.

Researchers warn that a proposed method of controlling malaria — using fungi to kill mosquitoes — could have undesirable side effects.

In a letter to Science, Oby Obyerodhyambo discusses the difficulties of negotiating informed consent in poor communities that have little bargaining power.

Stevan Harnad discusses the implications of different models of access to scientific literature and argues that in an online age it is no longer either necessary or tolerable for research to be inaccessible to most of its would-be users.

Clifford Mutero, coordinator of the Systemwide Initiative on Malaria and Agriculture, argues that malaria researchers need to engage with local communities to ensure the adoption and sustainability of solutions.