THE genomes of two parasites that cause schistosomiasis have been sequenced, a step that could lead to vaccines to treat and eradicate the disease. Schistosomiasis causes more illness than any parasitic disease except malaria.
The flatworm Schistosoma mansoni predominates in Africa, and Schistosoma japonicum is a related worm prevalent in Asia. The genetic analyses reveal that both worms have evolved the ability to parasitise people by responding to human hormones such as insulin and progesterone, says Sergio Verjovski-Almeida of the University of Säo Paulo in Brazil, who is head of the team that sequenced S. mansoni, (Nature Genetics, DOI: 10.1038/ng1236…
