Merozoite surface protein-1 (msp-1) and merozoite surface protein-2 (msp-2) which are asexual blood stage antigens are considered as prime candidates for the development of a malaria vaccine and are also suitable markers for the identification of genetically distinct Plasmodium falciparum parasite populations [8, 11, 13]. The gene discussed is ATAD1; the disease is malaria.