OPISTHORCHIASIS THROUGH THE PRISM OF GENOME

Over the century since the liver fluke Opisthorchis felineus was discovered, this parasite has been in the focus of constant and committed attention of many prominent scientists: morphologists, zoologists, parasitologists, and physicians examined it through the eyepieces of microscopes. They have succeeded in ferreting out many of its secrets: its intricate lifecycle has been clarified, its amazingly vast area has been mapped, and a variable pattern of the disease it causes has been described… Yet this parasite in many respects remains a puzzle for researchers. Geneticists today believe that the clue can be found in its own DNA. The genomics and proteomics project, being launched at the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, is aimed at “getting its genome into talk” and solving the mysteries encoded in the language of nucleic acids and proteins.

Content

More information on these and other subjects you can find in the printed version of our journal.