ParasitesRule

📢 Have an image to share?
We welcome submissions from the parasitology community — microscopy, field, lab, and more.
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

🔬 Featured Image
Trypanosoma cruzi amastigotes (red) infecting a cardiomyocyte (cyan) in a mouse heart, with CD4 (green) and CD8 (magenta) T cells revealing the immune response.

📸 Fernando Sanchez-Valdez, @CTEGD, University of Georgia
parasitesrule.com

🚨🚨🚨Game changer for babesia research from the Mamoun lab: Continuous In Vitro Propagation of the Human Pathogen Babesia microti in Human Erythrocytes
@yalemedicine.bsky.social @yalepress.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

@rmc9z.bsky.social @mjgubbels.bsky.social @omarharb.org

Travelaward2026 MPM LMIC award details

🌍 Calling parasitologists from LMICs! Apply for the MPM XXXVII LMIC Travel Award to attend the Molecular Parasitology Meeting in Woods Hole, MA (September 13–17, 2026). Awards include full registration, travel, and accommodation.
🗓️ Deadline: March 1, 2026

🔗 www.parasitesrule.com/mpm-xxxvii/t...

🔬 February image is live!
Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigote inside a host cell, captured using ultrastructure expansion microscopy.
📸 Ramiro Tomasina Institut Pasteur de Montevideo
Share your parasite images at parasitesrule!
🔗https://www.parasitesrule.com/

The deadline to apply to BoP is coming up quickly. Make sure to get your application in by February 5, 2026.

FYI were starting weird structure/evolution/biology stuff at Glasgow University!

If you're interested let me know! Tell your friends!

CRYO www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/research...

BIOINFO www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/research...

TECHNICIAN www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/technici...

#science #hiring #evolution

Sorting of GPI-anchored proteins at the trypanosome surface is independent of GPI insertion signals The segregation of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins (GPI-APs) to distinct domains on the plasma membrane of eukaryotic cells is importan…

If you assume GPI insertion signals = surface destination, trypanosomes disagree.

Tom’s work shows GPI-anchored protein sorting occurs independently of GPI insertion signals, hinting at alternative sorting logic at the parasite surface.

tinyurl.com/gpi-anchor
#MembraneBiology #CellSurface

🔬 Our first community-contributed image is here!
Stunning SEMs of two Trichomonas vaginalis parasites connected by cytonemes.
Want to share your parasite images? Visit parasitesrule.com to contribute!
📸 Salas et al., eLife 2023 doi:10.7554/eLife.86067 @eLife

Parasitesrule Dr. Roland A. Cooper

🦠 Calling all parasitologists!
New feature: parasitesrule.com showcase YOUR research images on our homepage.
Whether it's a beautiful microscopy shot, field work, or lab research - share it with fellow parasitology enthusiasts!
Submit here: forms.gle/b3s8bJbQuTZc...
#Parasitology #SciencePhotography

Genetic characterization and identification of a recent discovered genotype of Theileria orientalis (Piroplasmida: Theileriidae) in water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) from the Amazon region, Brazil Publication date: January 2026 Source: #ticks and #tick-borne Diseases, Volume 17, Issue 1 Author(s): João Paulo S. Alves, Pedro H.C. Rodrigues, Anisleidy P. Castillo, Antônio A. Fonseca Junior, Cairo H.S. de Oliveira, Rômulo C. Leite, José D. Barbosa, Júlia A.G. Silveira

Genetic characterization and identification of a recent discovered genotype of Theileria orientalis (Piroplasmida: Theileriidae) in water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) from the Amazon region, Brazil Ticks&TBD

#Parasitologists! Partake in this free #training offered by and for #VEuPathDB - an invaluable platform for -omics data and analytical tools centered around some of the most neglected fields of science!

#parasitology #mycology #fungus #pathogen #vector #eukaryote #protists

🦠 Grad students & postdocs in parasitology:
Apply now for the Biology of Parasitism (BoP): Modern Approaches course at @MBLScience.
Hands-on labs, expert lectures, and cutting-edge tools.
📅 Summer 2026 | ⏰ Deadline Feb 5
🔗 mbl.edu/courses

Professor Emma H Wilson discusses Toxoplasma gondii. YouTube video by Anthony Olszewski

"This interview with Dr. Emma H. Wilson details recent findings on how the chronic parasitic infection Toxoplasma gondii (*Toxo*) disrupts neurotransmission in the rodent brain. The study demonstrates ..."

www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6DP...

#Toxoplasma #Toxoplasmosis #Parasite #Parasitology

🎥 | WATCH | Dr Thomas Hollin (@umontpellier.bsky.social) discusses RNA-binding Proteins and Organellar Gene Regulation in Plasmodium falciparum.

The full Centre for Parasitology seminar is now available for a limited period on our YouTube channel:

📺 youtu.be/aH9aZAbJaIs?...

Chemical propulsion of hemozoin crystal motion in malaria parasites | PNAS Malaria parasites infect red blood cells where they digest host hemoglobin and release free heme inside a lysosome-like organelle called the food v...

Thrilled our study on heme crystal motion in #malaria @parasitesrule.org is now published @pnas.org, support from NIH, @bwfund.bsky.social, @uofutahcihd.bsky.social, UofU 3i. With Fu and Bidone labs @price.utah.edu, @uofubiochem.bsky.social, @uofuhealth.bsky.social
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Missed another parasitology webinar? 😩

I built a page to fix that — a community list of free online seminars anyone can add to!

🧫 Find and share virtual parasitology events here:
www.parasitesrule.com/seminars

The Matthews Lab | Biology The Matthews Lab

We have a 3+ year post doc available in our lab to study trypanosome transmission and virulence. Combined wet lab and bioinformatics expertise preferred. Please apply via the HR link (elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...). Find out more about us in the link below.

The parasitesrule site has an archive of abstract books from the Molecular Parasitology Meeting (MPM) & the Kinetoplastid Molecular Cell Biology Meeting (KMCB). The book from the first MPM (1990) is also there!
🔗 parasitesrule.com/archive

Did you know that you can submit and view parasitology related jobs on the #parasitesrule site? Check out the new interface:
🔗https://www.parasitesrule.com/jobs

Interested in Parasitology conferences in 2026? Look no further, check out the list of upcoming conferences on the parasitesrule website:
www.parasitesrule.com/conferences

Exploiting structural biology in the fight against parasitic diseases Despite spectacular advances in structural biology over the past half-century, only approximately 2% of the structures in the Protein Data Bank are fr…

Why do we care? Because very little information is available for proteins found in #parasites, despite parasites causing a third of the total global burden of human #disease (!!!) #MPM2025 @parasitesrule.org
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More about this problem is explained nicely here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

You can explore the full scRNAseq data on the same gene page: cryptodb.org/cryptodb/app...

The @veupathdb.org user comments campaign at #MPM2025 yielded 200 user comments from 66 attendees! Thanks, contributors 💐

For example: a comment on gene cgd5_3570 on CryptoDB pointed out that GGC proteins exhibit male-specific expression according to single-cell RNA seq. Good to know!

Parasitesrule

Recordings of the last 5 Keynote talks at the Molecular Parasitology Meeting MPM are available on the parasitesrule Youtube channel - check them out - ❤️ like and subscribe:
www.youtube.com/@Parasitesrule

Computational approaches for drug discovery against trypanosomatid-caused diseases During three decades, only about 20 new drugs have been developed for malaria, tuberculosis and all neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). This critical situation was reached because NTDs represent only ...

How? By inhibiting the uptake of metabolically essential amino acids and disrupting the parasite's lifecycle.

You can learn more about some of their work here: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

#Parasitology #MPMXXXVI #MPM2025
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Highlights from #MPMXXXVI:

Work by Melisa Sayé et al. explores repurposing benztropine - a Parkinson's disease drug - against infection by Trypanosome cruzi, a #parasite causing Chagas disease which affects >7 million people worldwide.

@parasitesrule.org #MPM2025 #Parasitology

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Efficacy of green synthesized silver nanoparticles via ginger rhizome extract against Leishmania major in vitro Leishmaniasis is a major public health problem that causes by parasite of the genus Leishmania. The pentavalent antimonial compounds that used for treatment are not safe or effective enough. The aim o...

Learn more about some of their work here: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

(Although ginger extract is used in this paper^. If anyone can point me towards publications of their studies using thyme extract please do!)

@parasitesrule.org #MPM2025 #Parasitology #MPM2025 #botany
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Highlights from #MPMXXXVI:
Work by Atena Hesami et al. shows the efficacy of thyme extract incorporated into silver #nanoparticles for use against Leishmania major - a #parasite causing flesh-eating disease - showing the value of naturally sourced compounds as augmentative antiparasitic agents. 1/2