Therefore, similar to HbC (Fairhurst et al., 2005), blood group O (Rowe et al., 2007) and RBC CR1 deficiency (Cockburn et al., 2004), it is possible that reduced rosetting and subsequent reduced microvascular obstruction (Kaul et al., 1991) may in part explain the protective association of Sl2 against cerebral malaria. This evidence concerns the gene MMP10 and cerebral malaria.