'Mind-control' parasite Toxoplasma hides from the immune system with 2 key genes

 Originally published by Kamal Naha

A new study could help scientists find a cure to lifelong infections caused by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii.  (Image credit: KATERYNA KON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images)
 

The parasite Toxoplasma gondii hides in up to half of humans (opens in new tab), although it rarely causes symptoms. But when it infects mice, the single-cell organism can exert a kind of "mind control" to change the rodents' behavior and help itself spread. 

Now, researchers report being one step closer to curing T. gondii infections in humans, which can be lifelong due to the parasite's ability to morph into a dormant, defensive state. Two transcription factors — proteins that switch genes "on" and "off" — lie at the root of this metamorphosis, and the discovery opens avenues to block the process.

Often dubbed the "mind-control parasite," T. gondii takes over the minds (opens in new tab) of infected mice and steers them towards cats to become their next meal. This enables the parasites to jump into our feline friends, the only known hosts (opens in new tab) in which they can reproduce sexually. 

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