( Scientists have now cracked the genetic...)Three Tropical Parasites Genetic Code Unravelled ,Health

Scientists have now cracked the genetic makeup three fatal diseases –sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis //and Chagas disease that are caused by Trypanosoma brucei, Leishmania major and Trypanosoma cruzi. The three diseases have mostly been to affect people in tropical countries. It is estimated that they affect about half a billion people worldwide and claim more than 150,000 lives annually.

A study conducted by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of National Institutes of Health has been published in Science journal.

“Although relatively unfamiliar in the United States, the collective misery caused by these diseases throughout the world is considerable. Having these genomes in hand will give us many new targets for drug and vaccine development,” Anthony S Fauci, director of NIAID said in an interview.

“One of the biggest surprises to come out of the genome sequencing projects is that these parasites – despite major differences in how they are spread and how they cause disease – nevertheless have a core of 6,200 genes in common,” said Martin John Rogers, of NIAID’s Parasitology and International Programs Branch.

Sanjeev Krishna, of St George’s Hospital in London who was one of the authors of the study said that 60 million Africans are affected by sleeping sickness annually. “Perhaps only one in 20 of these will have the chance to access medical care of even the most rudimentary sort,” he said, adding, “Treating sleeping sickness is like a form of medical Russian Roulette because you don’t know who will be saved or killed by the treatment available” He further added that since the sequencing program is completed the hunt will now be on to concentrate on finding the ‘magic bullet’ medicines that will help eradicate these diseases.

“Among these 6,200 genes that need further characterization, there are a good 40 or 50 that definitely appear not to be shared with any other life form so far s
'"/>




Page: 1 2
Related medicine news :

1. One in Three Heart Attack Patients Have No Chest Pains
2. Nobel Prize for Medicine shared by Three scientists
3. The Future Pattern Of Weight Gain Is Laid As Early As Three Years Of Age
4. Smoking Increases The Risk Of Heart Disease By Three Times
5. Three Sisters Have One Baby and Make History
6. Three In One Ultrasound Probe For 3-D Imaging Of Heart And Tissue Destruction Developed
7. Three More Bird Flu Cases Reported By China
8. Three meals daily Keeps Keralas elderly Healthy
9. Three dimensional structure of apolipoprotein revealed
10. Delhi Witnessed 34 Meningitis Deaths In Three Months
11. Drug Courts In Europe Extended For Three More Years