A New Target To Fight Sleeping Sickness
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - 10:21
in Biology & Nature
Sleeping sickness affects more than 50,000 people around the world, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is caused by the Trypanosoma parasite, which is transmitted by the tsetse fly. A team of CNRS researchers has identified a new protein within the parasite, the absence of which prevents the parasite from being able to feed itself and causes it to die. This work is of considerable importance, as it offers the potential of promising therapeutic strategies to fight the disease.