The high-sequence identity of gamete antigens contrasts to malaria vaccine antigens expressed by sporozoites such as TRAP and the C-terminal region of CSP used in the RTS,S vaccine and those expressed by blood stage parasites such as MSP1 and AMA1, which have high levels of polymorphisms and have proven to be challenging for vaccine antigen design (Neafsey et al., 2015; Takala et al., 2009; Barry and Arnott, 2014; Ouattara et al., 2015). Here, ATAD1 is linked to malaria.