PCR and strain identification in Plasmodium falciparum.

Anyone who has cultured Plasmodium falciparum is aware that confusion about the identity of commonly used strains, and inadvertent contamination of one strain with another have been persistent problems. These issues have been recently reviewed by Robson and colleagues. Jason Wooden, Susan Kyes and Carol Hopkins Sibley have recently adapted two methods that offer a quick, easy alternative for the identification of P. falciparum strains in the laboratory.