Turncoat Antibodies

Abstract
Women pregnant for the first time are particularly susceptible to malaria. This finding has been attributed to the ability of some malaria-infected red cells to bind to and become sequestered within the placenta. In a Perspective, Duffy and Fried describe new findings ( Flick et al.) showing that malaria-infected red cells are coated in nonimmune immunoglobin G that enables them to bind to the Fc receptors expressed by the placental lining.