Discovery Of Plant-Like Metabolic Pathway In Common Parasites Supplies New Targets F...( > Plasmodium: causes malaria the s...)

">Plasmod ium: causes malaria, the single most important tropical disease in the world. (Four of the more than 50 species infect humans.) Malaria affects an estimated 300 million people annually and kills nearly 3 million children each year, one every 30 seconds. Drug-resistant strains of malaria are increasingly common.

Toxoplasma gondii: causes toxoplasmosis. T. gondii infection, extremely common throughout the world, including industrialized countries, is spread by cats and is acquired from eating meat that has not been cooked to "well done." Although infection is usually harmless, it can cause devastating problems for those with weakened immune systems or when transmitted from mother to unborn child. About 3,000 infants are born each year in the U.S. with this disease. Manifestations include severe eye damage and mental retardation. Neonatal infections can be fatal if not detected and successfully treated at birth. The cost of caring for these children is estimated to exceed $500 million per year. No medications treat the latent life-cycle stages of the T. gondii parasite.

Cryptosporidium parvum: causes severe diarrhea in those with weakened immune systems and is a common infection in AIDS patients. A recent Cryptosporidiosis outbreak was traced to the Milwaukee water system.

Eimeria : a serious problem in poultry, causing losses on the order of $80 million per year.

About six years ago, researchers discovered that an unusual organelle of these parasites, called a plastid, had some striking resemblances to chloroplasts of plants. Plant plastids are the site for many essential biochemical fu
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Contact: John Easton
jeaston@mcis.bsd.uchicago.edu
773 702 6241
University of Chicago Medical Center
25-Jun-1998


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