Malaria culture is the method to grow
malaria parasites outside the body i.e. in an
ex vivo environment. Although attempts for propagation of the parasites outside of humans or animal models reach as far back as 1912, the success of the initial attempts was limited to one or just a few cycles. The first successful continuous culture was established in 1976. Initial hopes that the
ex vivo culture would lead quickly to the discovery of a
vaccine were premature. However, the development of new
drugs was greatly facilitated.