the origin of malaria is associated with the beginning of cultivation thousands of years ago, confirm two recent studies.

In 1958, Frank Livingstone had proposed a hypothesis that the emergence of malaria might be linked with the beginning of agriculture. According to Livingstone, the introduction of slash and burn system in West Africa about 2000 to 4000 years ago resulted in the clearing of tropical forest. This gave rise to sunlit pools of water, a breeding hotspot for Anopheles Gambiae (vector for Plasmodium Falciparum parasite).

This hypothesis was endorsed by two studies conducted recently by Sarah Volkman, Harvard University and Sarah Tishkoff, Maryland University.

Volkman and her team tested a range of genetic variations found in Plasmodium falciparum , a parasite causing the deadliest form of malaria.

In general, greater the gene variation in the population of the species, longer the gene has lived on earth. Therefore, variation in gene population acts as a