Sideways: road to gene-by-gene functional screening in malaria parasites

Genome-wide screening in apicomplexan species has transformed our understanding of these parasitic protozoa. Kimmel et al. report a ‘knock sideways’ system and provide a powerful use case for its feasibility in a gene-by-gene screening in Plasmodium falciparum. Carefully deployed, a novel toolkit helps to dissect the biological uniqueness of an important parasite.