New Scientist has microscopic video of what malaria looks like bursting into a blood cell:
Jake Baum at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues used transmission electron microscopy and 3D immuno-fluorescence microscopy to record a series of still images during the 30-second-long invasion, and combined them into a movie.
To boost their chances of catching a Plasmodium parasite in the act of attacking a red blood cell the team controlled the process using two drugs. The first – heparin – prevents parasites entering a new red blood cell, while the second – E64 – prevents their exit. Carefully timing the treatments meant “we knew we were going to get huge number of invasion events”, says Baum.
Look at it. Eerie.