Christina Bergey

Malaria is a disease of agriculture: the transition from foraging to farming created environments that favored mosquito vectors, intensifying human exposure and driving strong natural selection on immune and blood cell-related genes. Populations with a long history of agriculture, such as Bantu-speaking farmers, evolved partial genetic resistance to malaria, while historically hunter-gatherer groups likely faced less intense selection. These divergent evolutionary histories may contribute to present-day differences in malaria susceptibility. This project investigates how ancestral subsistence strategies continue to shape immune responses to malaria by comparing the Batwa, a historically hunter-gatherer population, and their neighboring Bakiga agriculturalists in southwestern Uganda. Although these groups now live side-by-side, preliminary evidence shows that the Batwa experience a greater malaria burden and different immune responses. We will apply dual-RNA sequencing to blood samples from malaria-infected individuals, capturing both host and parasite gene expression. This innovative method allows us to identify population-specific differences in immune activation and host-parasite interactions that reflect evolutionary history. Our findings will advance the anthropological understanding of human adaptation to agriculture and infectious disease. They will also inform public health efforts by improving knowledge of how genetic and environmental diversity shapes malaria outcomes in underrepresented populations.