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.
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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72
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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20
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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21
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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17
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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20
New research led by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) warns that hybrid forms of the parasites that cause schistosomiasis are undermining existing disease control strategies and could accelerate the spread of infection ...
Evolution
Jan 9, 2026
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243
With victims numbering in the millions, malaria is an infectious disease caused by the bite of a mosquito carrying the malaria parasite. After penetrating the skin, the pathogen moves with helical trajectories. It almost ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 24, 2025
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19
UC Davis nematologists, including Valerie Williamson, professor emerita in the Department of Plant Pathology, and associate professor Shahid Siddique, Department of Entomology and Nematology, have long wondered how a plant-parasitic ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Nov 19, 2025
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