'Mind-control' parasite Toxoplasma hides from the immune system with 2 key genes
Originally published by Kamal Naha A single-cell parasite relies on two genes that boost each other's activity to switch into "defense mode" when attacked by the immune system. 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