Toxoplasma Gondii Study Turns Parasite Invasion Theory On Its Head
Sunday, December 23, 2012 - 17:10
in Health & Medicine
Current thinking on how the Toxoplasma gondii parasite invades its host is incorrect, according to a study published today in Nature Methods describing a new technique to knock out genes. Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite that commonly infects cats - and therefore people who own a lot cats- but is also carried by other warm-blooded animals. Up to a third of the UK population are chronically infected with the parasite, according to estimates. In most cases the acute infection causes only flu-like symptoms but women who become infected during pregnancy can pass the parasite to their unborn child which can result in serious health problems for the baby such as blindness and brain damage. read more