Virus, parasite may combine to increase harm to humans
A parasite and a virus may be teaming up in a way that increases the parasite’s ability to harm humans, scientists at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report this week in Science.
Biologists’ favorite worm gets viruses
A workhorse of modern biology is sick, and scientists couldn’t be happier. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and other institutions have found that the nematode C. elegans, a millimeter-long worm used extensively for decades to study many aspects of biology, gets naturally occurring viral infections.
Discovery lets scientists seize controls of South American parasite
Scientists battling Leishmania, a parasite second only to malaria in the number of deaths it causes, have identified an important vulnerability in the genetic code of one major parasite strain.