About this Research Topic
Parasites (protozoans, worms, and arthropods) cause significant morbidity and mortality in humans, livestock, and domestic animals worldwide. Due to their complex nature and the limited understanding of host-parasite-vector interactions, many diseases still lack specific therapy, while the development of effective vaccines remains a great challenge. Therefore, innovative investigation strategies are required to overcome the issues imposed by parasitic diseases.
Systems biology is an emerging discipline that aims to understand how a complex set of components of a biological system operates to produce determined outcomes or phenotypes. Due to critical advances in genomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, bioinformatics, and modeling, this unbiased, data-driven approach has been instrumental to identifying features that promote pathology or resistance to disease. Systems parasitology is a branch within this field, and it is dedicated to the study of the biology and three-way interactions between the host (including its resident microbiota), the parasite, and its vector.
This Research Topic serves as a forum for the communication of technological, methodological and biological advances in systems parasitology, covering the most diverse aspects of the biology of parasites: how they interact with hosts, vectors and other microbes, the identification of novel therapeutic targets, as well as signatures of protection induced by effective immune response upon infection and/or vaccination.
The scope of this Research Topic includes, but is not limited to, the following themes:
• Genomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics of worms, protozoans and their vectors, especially those related to Neglected Tropical Diseases;
• High-throughput biology of the interaction between parasites with vectors and/or hosts (humans, livestock, wild animal reservoirs, and companion animals);
• Development of novel methods, technologies, and software;
• Reviews about recent advances in systems parasitology;
• Hypothesis, Perspective, and Opinion articles addressing the systems biology of parasitic diseases.
The collection especially welcomes studies addressing questions related to soil-transmitted helminths, schistosomiasis, malaria, and leishmaniasis.
We welcome the following article types: Original Research, Methods, Review, Mini-Review, Hypothesis and Theory, Perspective, Brief Research Report, General Commentary and Opinion.
Systems biology is an emerging discipline that aims to understand how a complex set of components of a biological system operates to produce determined outcomes or phenotypes. Due to critical advances in genomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, bioinformatics, and modeling, this unbiased, data-driven approach has been instrumental to identifying features that promote pathology or resistance to disease. Systems parasitology is a branch within this field, and it is dedicated to the study of the biology and three-way interactions between the host (including its resident microbiota), the parasite, and its vector.
This Research Topic serves as a forum for the communication of technological, methodological and biological advances in systems parasitology, covering the most diverse aspects of the biology of parasites: how they interact with hosts, vectors and other microbes, the identification of novel therapeutic targets, as well as signatures of protection induced by effective immune response upon infection and/or vaccination.
The scope of this Research Topic includes, but is not limited to, the following themes:
• Genomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics of worms, protozoans and their vectors, especially those related to Neglected Tropical Diseases;
• High-throughput biology of the interaction between parasites with vectors and/or hosts (humans, livestock, wild animal reservoirs, and companion animals);
• Development of novel methods, technologies, and software;
• Reviews about recent advances in systems parasitology;
• Hypothesis, Perspective, and Opinion articles addressing the systems biology of parasitic diseases.
The collection especially welcomes studies addressing questions related to soil-transmitted helminths, schistosomiasis, malaria, and leishmaniasis.
We welcome the following article types: Original Research, Methods, Review, Mini-Review, Hypothesis and Theory, Perspective, Brief Research Report, General Commentary and Opinion.
Keywords: protozoans, helminths, vectors, high-throughput biology, bioinformatics, schistosomiasis, malaria, leishmaniasis, systems parasitology, hosts, genomics, metabolomics, transcriptomics
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
