Abstract: Objective To develop methods of extracting DNA from malaria parasites on Giemsa-stained blood smears. Methods Improved Na₂HPO₄ method and Chelex-100 ion-exchange technique were used to extract DNA from Giemsa-stained or unstained blood smears. Nested PCR was employed for amplification and identification of allelotypes in the Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein-1（PvMSP-1）. Results Target DNA bands appeared in all samples of unstained thick blood smears， while no DNA bands were visible in the fixed and stained thin smears. Both methods identified PvMSP-1 alleles from smears with parasitemia of ≥0.01%. Conclusion It is feasible to identify PvMSP-1 alleles from Giemsa-stained blood smear.

Key words: Blood smear, Plasmodium vivax, DNA extraction