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Malaria Var-Gene Antigenic Switching

Watch a population of malaria-infected red blood cells switch which surface variant (var gene) they display, staying one step ahead of an immune system that can only chase the variant it has already learned to recognize.

Medicine & Biophysics3DAdvanced60 FPS

Plasmodium parasites hiding inside red blood cells display a surface protein the immune system can learn to target — but the parasite carries a large family of alternative "var" genes and periodically switches which variant it shows. This simulator visualises that chase: infected cells are colour-coded by their currently expressed variant, antibodies ramp up against whichever colour currently dominates, and periodic switching events keep introducing variants the immune system hasn't caught up with yet. Toggle switching off to see what happens when the parasite is locked to a single identity instead.

⚙ Under the hood

Watch malaria-infected red blood cells switch which var-gene surface variant they display, color-coded by variant, as antibodies ramp up against whichever variant currently dominates — always one step behind a population that keeps changing its identity, letting chronic infection persist. Toggle switching off to see the infection cleared completely instead.

malariaPlasmodiumantigenic variationvar genesimmune evasionparasitologyPfEMP1red blood cells

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install