Malaria is one of the most dangerous infectious diseases. The causative pathogens are microorganisms of the genus Plasmodium. A particularly dangerous form of the disease is caused by Plasmodium falciparum. Artemisinin is one of the most important antimalarial drugs against this parasite. However, in a mutant of the pathogen that is now spreading, the effect of artemisinin is limited. A team of researchers around Robin Schumann, a biochemist from Kaiserslautern, has now found the mechanism behind this: A protein that is involved in the development of the parasite is misfolded. The study has been published in the journal Redox Biology.