Parasitology is the scientific discipline that investigates parasites—organisms that live in or on a host and derive resources at the host’s expense—along with their hosts and the environments that shape these interactions. It encompasses the biology, life cycles, genetics, ecology, and evolution of protozoan, helminth, and arthropod parasites, as well as host immune responses and mechanisms of pathogenesis. Parasitology underpins diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of parasitic diseases in humans, animals, and plants, integrating tools from molecular biology, immunology, epidemiology, and vector biology to elucidate transmission dynamics, drug resistance, and control strategies.
New evidence suggests that a disease-causing tapeworm that has been spreading across the United States and Canada has arrived in the Pacific Northwest. The tapeworm, called Echinococcus multilocularis, lives as a parasite ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 6, 2026
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A first-of-its-kind University of Stirling study could better inform strategies to control salmon lice, after researchers uncovered major differences in the secretions the parasite produces as larvae. Like other parasites, ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Mar 18, 2026
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After a year and a half of remote work and learning, UC Santa Barbara undergraduate students Sophia Lecuona Manos, Gabrielle Plewe, Carson Gadler and doctoral student Zoe Zilz returned to campus in late 2021 eager for some ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 17, 2026
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The world's first lab-based tick feeding system for bush ticks, developed by researchers at the University of Melbourne, has transformed the study of ticks and how they transmit disease. The novel, host-free technology reduces ...
Biotechnology
Mar 6, 2026
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It infects nearly one-third of the global population, yet its microscopic size makes the parasite difficult for scientists to study. That parasite is Toxoplasma gondii, a widespread organism that infects humans and animals. ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 6, 2026
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An international team of scientists has shed light on the development of the malaria parasite and has identified a unique protein essential for its survival and transmission, which offers a promising new target for antimalaria ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 26, 2026
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A new study has uncovered a hidden step that helps the deadliest malaria parasite survive and multiply inside the human body. Researchers studying Plasmodium falciparum found that the parasite relies on a brief but essential ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 4, 2026
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An international research team headed by scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and the Center for Structural Systems Biology and Bernhard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Germany has revealed ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 2, 2026
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A recent review of over 312 studies has identified dozens of unique uses of roadkill in scientific research. The review, published in Biology Letters, discusses the advantages of using roadkill instead of live wildlife and ...
A University of California, Riverside team of scientists has found that Toxoplasma gondii, a common parasite affecting up to one-third of the global population, is far more complex than previously believed. The findings, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 27, 2026
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