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Researchers have sequenced and compared the genomes of 81 species of parasitic worms in the largest genetic study of the worms to date. The results, published today (November 5) in Nature Genetics, could lead to treatments for illnesses caused by the parasites, such as river blindness, schistosomiasis, and hookworm disease.
“Little is known about the biology of many parasitic worm species, so we used a broad comparison of their genomes to discover the most striking genetic differences between them,” senior author Matt Berriman of the Wellcome Sanger Institute says in a statement. “We have uncovered many new genes and gene families to help understand how the worms live and migrate inside us and other animals. This dataset will catapult worm research into a new era of discovery.”
The research team, which included collaborators from the University of Edinburgh and Washington University in Saint Louis, used published sequence ...
