Don’t get too excited about the RTS,S malaria vaccine, the development of which is being funded by the Gates Foundation. At present, the vaccine doesn’t seem to work well enough to make a difference and nobody knows what it’s going to cost (a big deal when you’re talking about a disease like malaria, which goes hand-in-hand with poverty). Beyond that, several leading vaccine researchers are questioning the methodology used to analyze the results of RTS,S trials. The vaccine may be even less effective than previously thought. Bottom line: The research is valuable, but this particular vaccine probably won’t be the breakthrough people are hoping for.