On Jul. 30, 2020, researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions announced they had discovered another set of pore-like holes, or channels, traversing the membrane-bound sac that encloses the deadliest malaria parasite as it infects red blood cells.

The channels enable the transport of lipids ﾗ fat-like molecules ﾗ between the blood cell and parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. The parasite draws lipids from the cell to sustain its growth and may also secrete other types of lipids to hijack cell functions to meet its needs.