Our team has shown that Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes modify both the deformability and the permeability of their red blood cell host to persist for several weeks in the blood circulation and to be available for mosquitoes (Tiburcio et al, Blood 2012; Ramdani et al, Plos pathogens 2015; Naissant et al, Blood 2016; Bouyer et al, Communications Biology 2020). We use novel biophysical and microscopy techniques as well as omics approaches to unravel the mechanisms regulating the mechanical properties of gametocyte-infected red blood cells.