Parasite Breaks Its Own DNA To Avoid Detection
Saturday, April 18, 2009 - 21:28
in Biology & Nature
The parasite that causes African sleeping sickness is like a thief donning a disguise. Every time the host's immune cells get close to destroying the parasite, it escapes detection by rearranging its DNA and changing its appearance. Now scientists reveal how the parasite initiates its getaway, by cleaving both strands of its DNA.