Parasitology News and Research

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Parasitology is the study of organisms that gain nutrients and protection from their host, without any benefit to the host.

New discovery could save millions of lives from fatal fungal infections

Life-threatening fungal infections affect more than two million people worldwide. Effective antifungal medications are very limited.

20 Jul 2018

Study provides new insight into blood-clotting ability of leeches

Leeches are blood-feeding organisms that have a suite of anticoagulant compounds they secrete from their salivary glands that prevent blood clotting. This allows them to maximize feeding time and blood volume.

12 Jul 2018

Study reveals essential malaria parasite genes

Researchers have exploited a quirk in the genetic make-up of the deadly malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, to create 38,000 mutant strains and then determine which of the organism's genes are essential to its growth and survival.

3 May 2018

Sleeping sickness actually caused by acceleration of biological clocks

Sleeping sickness could use a more encompassing moniker. An international study from the O'Donnell Brain Institute shows one of Africa's most lethal diseases is actually a circadian rhythm disorder caused by the acceleration of biological clocks controlling a range of vital functions besides sleep.

4 Jan 2018

Genetic changes help mosquitoes to develop pesticide resistance

For decades, chemical pesticides have been the most important way of controlling insects like the Anopheles mosquito species that spreads malaria to humans.

4 Jan 2018

Researchers team up to identify vulnerabilities of lethal parasite

An estimated 100 million people around the world are infected with Strongyloides stercoralis, a parasitic nematode, yet it's likely that many don't know it.

15 Dec 2017

Chagas disease presents real public health problem to Canadians

Believe it or not, a tropical blood parasite native to Latin America could be harmful to Canadians. Infectious diseases like malaria or Zika may have dominated recent headlines but Chagas - the "Kissing Bug" disease - is in the spotlight following the publication of a new case study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

13 Dec 2017

Kent researchers establish first long-term cultivation system for diarrhea-causing parasite

A research team at the University of Kent has established the first long-term cultivation system at a laboratory scale for the parasite Cryptosporidium, one of the world's worst and most common causes of diarrhea and death from diarrhea.

4 Dec 2017

Leishmania genome study reveals the parasites adaptation to the environment

A new study, conducted by researchers from the Institut Pasteur in Paris and the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona, have revealed that Leishmania adaptation is a consequence of reversible and frequent chromosomal amplifications.

23 Nov 2017

Leishmania adaptation to environmental changes results from frequent chromosomal amplifications

Leishmaniasis is an important human and veterinary disease caused by Leishmania parasites that affect 12 million people in over 98 endemic countries. The disease is now emerging in Europe due to climate change and massive population displacement.

23 Nov 2017

UCR-led research discovers that human protein could be used to treat sepsis

A research team led by a biomedical scientist at the University of California, Riverside has discovered that the human protein resistin could be used to treat sepsis, the body's extreme and uncontrolled immune response to an infection.

14 Nov 2017

Malaria parasites’ decision making influenced by fatty molecule in human blood

Depletion of a fatty molecule in human blood propels malaria parasites to stop replicating and causing illness in people and instead to jump ship to mosquitoes to continue the transmission cycle, according to a new study by an international research team.

9 Nov 2017

GM mosquitoes can have altered microbiota that suppresses human malaria-causing parasites

WHAT: Using genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes to reduce or prevent the spread of infectious diseases is a new but rapidly expanding field of investigation.

30 Sep 2017

Study reveals how nitric oxide impedes growth of ‘snail fever’ parasite

Bilharzia, caused by a parasitic worm found in freshwater called Schistosoma, infects around 200 million people globally and its advance can lead to death, especially in children in developing countries.

14 Sep 2017

LSU Health New Orleans receives $10 million grant to support research on virus-induced cancers

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences has awarded LSU Health New Orleans a $10 million grant over five years to support new basic research studies advancing the development new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for virus-induced cancers.

26 Aug 2017

Researchers find patterns of parasitic infections in mummified remains

Studying parasites has many modern-day advantages for understanding diseases, but it can also help researchers to understand ancient cultures.

24 Aug 2017

Radboudumc, iMM Lisboa, PATH team up to test new malaria vaccine concept

The Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands, the Instituto de Medicina Molecular Lisboa in Portugal, and PATH in Seattle, Washington announced today that they will collaborate to test a new approach to malaria vaccine development in humans for the first time.

31 May 2017