Kek Heng Chua

Kek Heng Chua
University of Malaya | UM · Department of Biomedical Science

Professor

About

378
Publications
56,346
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4,607
Citations
Additional affiliations
January 2012 - present
Monash University (Australia)
January 2010 - present
Prince of Songkla University
January 2004 - December 2010
National University of Malaysia

Publications

Publications (378)
Article
Full-text available
Bacterial small RNAs (sRNAs) play crucial roles in coordinating gene regulatory networks in various physiological processes, including biofilm formation. In this study, RNA sequencing was performed on biofilm (n = 4) and planktonic (n = 4) cells harvested at 10 h (pre-stationary phase of biofilm development) to identify biofilm-associated sRNAs in...
Article
WT 9-12 is one of the cell lines commonly used for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) studies. Previous studies had described the PKD gene mutations and polycystin expression in WT 9-12. Nonetheless, the mutations occurring in other ADPKD-associated genes have not been investigated. This study aims to revisit these mutations and p...
Article
Introduction. Resistance towards amoxicillin in Helicobacter pylori causes significant therapeutic impasse in healthcare settings worldwide. In Malaysia, the standard H. pylori treatment regimen includes a 14-day course of high-dose proton-pump inhibitor (rabeprazole, 20 mg) with amoxicillin (1000 mg) dual therapy. Hypothesis/Gap Statement. The hi...
Article
Objective To determine the genetic diversity of Plasmodium (P.) knowlesi isolates from Sabah, Malaysian Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia, targeting the S-type SSU rRNA gene and including aspects of natural selection and haplotype. Methods Thirty-nine blood samples infected with P. knowlesi were collected in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo and Peninsular Mal...
Article
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Despite the importance of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as a priority nosocomial pathogen, the genome sequences of Malaysian MRSA isolates are currently limited to a small pool of samples. Here, we present the genome sequence analyses of 88 clinical MRSA isolates obtained from the main tertiary hospital in Terengganu, Malaysia...
Article
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Acinetobacter baumannii forms air–liquid interface pellicles that boost its ability to withstand desiccation and increase survival under antibiotic pressure. This study aims to delve into the transcriptomic profiles of pellicle cells from clinical strains of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB). The total RNA was extracted from pellicle cells f...
Preprint
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Risky health behaviours are expressions of masculinity for men and may be a cause of their high health risks relative to those of their female counterparts. A total of 955 archived serum samples were analysed for anti-HEV immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). This study examined the pr...
Article
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Background. Acinetobacter baumannii was reported to have resistance towards carbapenems and the ability to form an air-liquid biofilm (pellicle) which contributes to their virulence. The GacSA two-component system has been previously shown to play a role in pellicle formation. Therefore, this study aims to detect the presence of gacA and gacS genes...
Article
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Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a priority nosocomial pathogen with plasmids playing a crucial role in its genetic adaptability, particularly in the acquisition and spread of antimicrobial resistance. In this study, the genome sequences of 79 MSRA clinical isolates from Terengganu, Malaysia, (obtained between 2016 and 2020) al...
Article
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Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a World Health Organization-listed priority pathogen. Scarce genomic data are available for MRSA isolates from Malaysia. Here, we present the complete genome sequence of a multidrug-resistant MRSA strain SauR3, isolated from the blood of a 6-year-old patient hospitalized in Terengganu, Malaysia,...
Article
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Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a significant challenge in healthcare management, and addressing it requires a comprehensive approach. In this study, we employed a combination of phenotypic and genotypic approaches, along with whole genome sequencing (WGS) to investigate five hospital-associated MDR methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)...
Article
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Methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) is an important nosocomial pathogen worldwide. This study aims to investigate the in vitro biofilm-forming ability of clinical MSSA isolated from various sources in the main public tertiary referral hospital in Terengganu, Malaysia and to detect the presence of biofilm-associated and regulatory g...
Article
i>Ganoderma neo-japonicum Imazeki is a medicinal mushroom consumed by the indigenous people in Malaysia as a remedy for diabetes. This study aims to validate the efficacy of G. neo-japonicum polysaccharides (GNJP) on obesity-induced type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in C57BL/6J mice. Mice were divided into seven groups; normal diet (ND)-control, high...
Article
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Background While microbiomes in industrialized societies are well characterized, indigenous populations with traditional lifestyles have microbiomes that are more akin to those of ancient humans. However, metagenomic data in these populations remains scarce, and the association with soil-transmitted helminth infection status is unclear. Here, we se...
Article
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Staphylococcus hominis is a coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) commensal capable of causing serious systemic infections in humans. The emergence of multidrug-resistant S. hominis strains is of concern but little is known about the characteristics of this organism, particularly from Malaysia. Here, we present the comparative genome analysis of...
Article
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Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is among the top threats to global public health and biofilm production is one of the factors attributed to its pathogenesis. This study aims to investigate the biofilm forming ability of 89 clinical MRSA isolated from various sources in Malaysia and to investigate the presence of biofilm-associate...
Article
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Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been listed by the World Health Organization as a priority antibiotic-resistant nosocomial pathogen in urgent need of new antimicrobials [1]. Plasmids are a key factor in the pathology and epidemiology of MRSA isolates and play important roles in their evolution. In our on-going efforts to bett...
Article
One of the primary goals of diabetes management is to maintain blood glucose levels within a normal range, and insulin plays a vital role in achieving this. All Type 1 DM patients and advanced Type 2 DM patients require insulin. Insulin is administered subcutaneously, which may cause patient discomfort from the use of needles. Therefore, developing...
Article
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Plasmodium knowlesi is the most common zoonotic parasite associated with human malaria infection in Malaysia. Apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1) protein in the parasite plays a critical role in parasite invasion into host cells. To date, there is no complete three-dimensional ectodomain structure of P. knowlesi AMA1 (PkAMA1) protein. The knowledge of...
Article
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In Malaysia, soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections still persist among indigenous communities. In the past, local studies have focused mostly on epidemiologic aspects of STH infections with a scarcity of information on the efficacy of deworming treatment. The present study consisted of 2 phases: a cross-sectional phase on current epidemiologic...
Article
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Aeromonas dhakensis is ubiquitous in aquatic habitats and can cause life-threatening septicaemia in humans. However, limited data are available on their antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) profiles. Hence, we aimed to examine their AST patterns using clinical (n = 94) and non-clinical (n = 23) isolates with dehydrated MicroScan microdilution...
Article
Crohn’s disease (CD) is one of the sub-entities of Inflammatory Bowel Disease which causes chronic inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. The development of CD has shown to have a strong genetic association. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the association between genetic polymorphisms in a susceptible locus of CD, the protein...
Article
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Cardiomyopathy (CMP) constitutes a diverse group of myocardium diseases affecting the pumping ability of the heart. Genetic predisposition is among the major factors affecting the development of CMP. Globally, there are over 100 genes in autosomal and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that have been reported to be associated with the pathogenesis of CMP. H...
Article
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Objectives: The occurrence of asymptomatic verocytotoxin (VT)-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) infections among humans in recent years is posing a high risk to public health. Thus, the role of asymptomatic human carriers as a source of dissemination should not be underestimated. This study aimed to elucidate the phenotypic and genotypic character...
Article
Genus Plesiomonas, represented by a single species, P. shigelloides is a Gram-negative bacillus associated with gastrointestinal and extraintestinal disease in humans. In this study, 44 clinical isolates (gastrointestinal n=41; extraintestinal n=3) were genetically confirmed as P. shigelloides using the hug gene. All 20 virulence genes were detecte...
Preprint
While microbiomes in industrialized societies are well characterized, indigenous populations with traditional lifestyles have microbiomes that are more akin to those of ancient humans. However, metagenomic data in these populations remains scarce and the association with soil-transmitted helminth infection status is unclear. Here, we sequenced 650...
Article
Full-text available
Background As scant data are available about Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in Malaysia, this study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of HEV amongst ruminant farmworkers in Malaysia. Methods A total of 87 farmworkers provided serum samples, which were collected from eight farms. All serum samples were tested for anti-HEV IgG and anti-HEV Ig...
Article
Recently, Elizabethkingia species have gained attention as a cause of life-threatening infections. The identification via phenotypic methods of three important species- Elizabethkingia meningoseptica, E. anophelis and E. miricola is difficult. Our objectives were to re-assess 30 archived Flavobacterium meningosepticum isolates using 16S rRNA gene s...
Conference Paper
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Background and Aim: The prevalence of H. pylori antibiotic resistance to clarithromycin (CLA) and levofloxacin (LVX) is increasing and affecting the efficacy of current therapeutic regimens worldwide including in Malaysia. Here, we aimed to inspect the H. pylori primary resistance towards both antibiotics in Malaysia and further evaluate its trend...
Article
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Objective In a recent genome‐wide association study, a significant genetic association between rs34330 of CDKN1B and risk of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Han Chinese was identified. This study was undertaken to validate the reported association and elucidate the biochemical mechanisms underlying the effect of the variant. Methods We perfo...
Article
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Myricetin derivatives from Syzygium malaccense leaf extract are known to have numerous therapeutic efficacies but there is no documented evidence corroborating its safety. Therefore, the present work aimed to evaluate the safety profile of myricetin derivative-rich fraction (MD) from S. malaccense leaf extract through single and repetitive oral adm...
Article
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Malaria caused by Plasmodium knowlesi species has become a public health concern, especially in Malaysia. Plasmodium knowlesi parasite which originates from the macaque species, infects human through the bite of the Anopheles mosquitoes. Research on malaria vaccine has been a continuous effort to eradicate the malaria infection, yet there is no vac...
Article
Background Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a monogenic kidney disorder that impairs renal functions progressively leading to kidney failure. The disease affects between 1:400 and 1:1000 ratio of the people worldwide. It is caused by the mutated PKD1 and PKD2 genes which encode for the defective polycystins. Polycystins mimic...
Article
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Background Resistance to clarithromycin and levofloxacin in Helicobacter pylori which resulted in treatment failures has become a major challenge for physicians worldwide. The resistance is mainly mediated by mutations in a specific domain of the 23S rRNA, gyrA and gyrB genes for clarithromycin and levofloxacin respectively. Hence in this study, we...
Article
The present study aimed to examine the genetic diversity of human malaria parasites (i.e., P. falciparum, P. vivax and P. knowlesi) in Malaysia and southern Thailand targeting the 19-kDa C-terminal region of Merozoite Surface Protein-1 (MSP-119). This region is essential for the recognition and invasion of erythrocytes and it is considered one of t...
Article
Obesity is a driving factor in the onset of metabolic disorders. This study aims to investigate the effects of the myricetin derivative-rich fraction (MD) from Syzygium malaccense leaf extract on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and its associated complications and its influence on uncoupling protein-1 (UCP-1) and gut microbiota in C57BL/6J mice...
Article
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Background Staphylococcus aureus is one of the important pathogens causing nosocomial infection. spa typing allows identification of S. aureus clones in hospital isolates and is useful for epidemiological studies and nosocomial infection control. This study aims to investigate the spa types in Malaysian S. aureus isolates obtained from various clin...
Article
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[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002880.].
Article
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The emergence of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) is a great concern, as carbapenems are the last-line therapy for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria infections. This study aims to report the epidemiology of CRKP in a teaching hospital in Malaysia based on the molecular genotypic and clinical characteristics of the isolates...
Article
Diseases caused by typhoidal and non-typhoidal Salmonella remain a considerable threat to both developed and developing countries. Based on the clinical symptoms and serological tests, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate the Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi A (S. enterica serovar Paratyphi A) from serovar Typhi (S. enterica serovar Typh...
Article
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Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a ubiquitous bacterium, which is able to change its physiological characteristics in response to different habitats. Environmental strains are presumably less pathogenic than clinical strains and whether or not the clinical strains originate from the environment or through inter-host transmission remains poorly understood....
Article
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Objectives In Malaysia, the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori resistance to clarithromycin is increasing. This study aimed to determine mutations in the 23S rRNA domain V directly using bacterial DNA extracted from gastric biopsy specimens with a urease-positive result. Methods A 1085-bp fragment of 23S rRNA domain V from samples of 62 treatment-n...
Article
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Background Understanding the genetic diversity of candidate genes for malaria vaccines such as circumsporozoite protein ( csp ) may enhance the development of vaccines for treating Plasmodium knowlesi . Hence, the aim of this study is to investigate the genetic diversity of non-repeat regions of csp in P. knowlesi from Malaysian Borneo and Peninsul...
Article
Aeromonads are recognised as important pathogens of fishes. In this study, ten water samples were randomly collected from pet shops' fish tanks and home aquaria inhabited by several fish species (silver arowana, koi, goldfish, catfish, pictus fish, silver shark and silver dollar fish). Altogether 298 colonies were isolated using Aeromonas selective...
Article
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The field strain of Haemonchus contortus has a long history of anthelmintic resistance. To understand this phenomenon, the benzimidazole resistance profile was characterized from the Malaysian field-resistant strain by integrating phenotypic, genotypic and proteomic approaches. The faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) demonstrated that benzimida...
Article
Ganoderma neo‐japonicum is a well‐known medicinal mushroom in Asian countries. However, scientific validations on its curative activities are confined to cirrhosis and diabetes. In this study, the anticancer properties of G. neo‐japonicum were evaluated using cellular and computational models. The ethanolic extract (EtOH) with promising inhibitory...
Article
Aim A high-fat diet (HFD) can lead to obesity and related metabolic disorders. This study evaluated the preventive efficacy of myricetin derivative-rich fraction (MD) from Syzygium malaccense leaf extract against HFD-induced obesity, hyperglycaemia, and oxidative stress in C57BL/6J mice. Methods HFD-fed mice were administered MD (50 mg/kg, 100 mg/...
Preprint
Full-text available
Background Understanding the genetic diversity of candidate genes for malaria vaccines such as circumsporozoite protein (csp) may enhance the development of vaccines for treating Plasmodium knowlesi. Hence, the aim of this study is to investigate the genetic diversity of non-repeat regions of csp in P. knowlesi from Malaysian Borneo and Peninsular...
Preprint
Full-text available
Background: Understanding the genetic diversity of candidate genes for malaria vaccines such as circumsporozoite protein (csp) may enhance the development of vaccines for treating Plasmodium knowlesi. Hence, the aim of this study is to investigate the genetic diversity of non-repeat regions of csp in P. knowlesi from Malaysian Borneo and Peninsular...
Article
Ganoderma neo-japonicum is an annual polypore mushroom that is consumed by Malaysian indigenous tribes to treat various ailments including diabetes. The present study aimed to investigate the nutritive composition and in vitro antihyperglycemic effects of G. neo-japonicum extracts on 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Nutritional analysis of G. neo-japonicum ba...
Article
The emergence of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae has become a major global concern. OXA-48-like carbapenemase gene and its variants have been increasingly reported worldwide. This study reported the first OXA-181-producing Klebsiella quasipneumoniae isolate in Malaysia. This bacterium was isolated from blood specimen of a three-year-old...
Article
Aeromonads are ubiquitous in aquatic environments and have been implicated in fish and human infections. In this study, we isolated, studied antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and screened the existence of 15 virulence genes in aeromonads from two famously consumed fish species—seven marine Tiger Grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) and eight fre...
Article
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Background Burkholderia pseudomallei causes melioidosis, a serious illness that can be fatal if untreated or misdiagnosed. Culture from clinical specimens remains the gold standard but has low diagnostic sensitivity. Method In this study, we developed a rapid, sensitive and specific insulated isothermal Polymerase Chain Reaction (iiPCR) targeting...
Article
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OXA-48-like carbapenemase gene remains a hidden threat, as different OXA-48 variants have varying presentations of susceptibility to antibiotics that might affect the treatment decisions. Rapid detection and differentiation of OXA-48-like carbapenemase genes are critical for targeted treatment and infection control. In this study, we aimed to devel...
Article
Myricetin derivatives (F2) isolated from leaf extract of Syzygium malaccense (Malay apple) which contains myricitrin predominantly, could potentially serve as functional food ingredient based on previous findings. The present study aimed to investigate the protective effects of F2 against hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress in ARPE-19 (retinal p...
Article
Aeromonas dhakensis is an emergent human pathogen with medical importance. This study was aimed to determine the sequence types (STs), genetic diversity, and phylogenetic relationships of different clinical sources of 47 A. dhakensis from Malaysia using multilocus sequence typing (MLST), goeBURST, and phylogenetic analyses. The analysis of a concat...
Article
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Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) is one of the main causative agents of pneumococcal diseases. To date, more than 90 distinct serotypes have been identified. Implementation of vaccines has caused a drastic reduction in vaccine-serotype pneumococcal diseases but increase in cases due to non-vaccine serotype has been observed in Malaysia. How...
Article
Malaysia is a non‐endemic country for hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection. However, seroprevalence as high as 50% among samples of aboriginal people were reported over two decades ago. A total of 207 samples collected from seven aboriginal villages in rural settlements across two states in Malaysia were analysed for anti‐HEV IgG and IgM by an enzyme‐...
Article
Background: Entamoeba is a free-living protozoan parasitic species that infect a variety of hosts. In humans, Entamoeba histolytica is the causative agent of amoebiasis. Entamoeba species has also been reported in dogs. However, little is known about the molecular epidemiology and the specific species of this parasite in dogs globally, including M...
Article
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Objective Plasmodium knowlesi, the fifth human malaria parasite, has caused mortality in humans. We aimed to identify P. knowlesi novel binding peptides through a random linear dodecapeptide phage display targeting the 19‐kDa fragment of Merozoite Surface Protein‐1 protein. Methods rPkMSP‐119 protein was heterologously expressed using Expresso® So...
Article
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Colorectal cancer is one of the most prevalent noncommunicable diseases worldwide. 5-Fluorouracil is the mainstay of chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. Previously, we have demonstrated that high glucose diminishes the cytotoxicity of 5-fluorouracil by promoting cell cycle progression. The synergistic impact of rosiglitazone on 5-fluorouracil-induc...
Article
Aim: To investigate the association between genetic polymorphisms in ATG16L1 and IRGM genes with Crohn's disease (CD) in Malaysian patients. Methods: A total of 335 subjects were recruited, including 85 CD patients and 250 unrelated healthy controls, and informed consent was obtained. Genomic DNA was extracted via a conventional phenol-chlorofor...
Article
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Staphylococcus aureus is an important nosocomial pathogen and its multidrug resistant strains, particularly methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), poses a serious threat to public health due to its limited therapeutic options. The increasing MRSA resistance towards vancomycin, which is the current drug of last resort, gives a great challenge to th...
Article
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There is an alarming increase in the prevalence of extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) present mainly in Enterobacteriaceae and other nonfermenting gram-negative bacteria, such as Alcaligenes faecalis, which is the only species in that genus that is clinically relevant. We investigated Alcaligenes species from 7 cases (6 inpatients and one outpa...
Article
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The spread of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a public health concern. The inducible macrolide-lincosamide-streptogrammin B (iMLSB ) phenotype (or inducible clindamycin resistance) is associated with false clindamycin susceptibility in routine laboratory testing and may lead to treatment failure. Tigecycline resistance remains rare in...
Article
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Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is a key genetic factor conferring risk of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but precise independent localization of HLA effects is extremely challenging. As a result, the contribution of specific HLA alleles and amino-acid residues to the overall risk of SLE and to risk of specific autoantibodies are far from comple...
Article
Malaria is the most common vector-borne parasitic disease in Malaysia and Thailand, especially in Malayan Borneo and along the Thailand border areas, but little is known about the genetic diversity of the parasite. Present study aims to investigate the genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum isolates in these two countries and eventually contrib...