According to the World Health Organization (WHO), parasites from different species and latitudes are the cause of tremendous burdens of disease worldwide. Some of them are classified in the group of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), because they suffer from a lack of attention by the public funding agencies of developed countries. Altogether, the NTDs affect more than 1 billion people worldwide, largely in rural areas of low-income countries.
Therefore, the unraveling, understanding, and description of parasites at the molecular level has become essential to design strategies to control these devastating diseases. In the first decade of the 21st century, the development of new technologies has forever changed the way genomes, transcriptomes, proteomes, and metabolomes are processed and analyzed, successfully fulfilling this complex needing. Besides, its accessibility in terms of cost and time has promoted its implementation in an increasing number of specialized research laboratories worldwide. Accordingly, most of the recent knowledge in parasite molecular biology (including interactions with the host) has evolved in line with such technologies. In this context, ‘omic’ approaches including but not limited to genome sequencing, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and epigenetics, are contributing to answer specific biological questions, such as drug resistance, epidemiology, genetic exchange, immune evasion mechanisms, gene function, genome organization and gene expression. And equally important, their implementation on disease surveillance, disease outcomes, and interactions with the host and vectors are having a positive impact on human health.
Thus, it is the intention of this special issue to highlight recent advances in the field of parasite omics applied to study protozoan pathogens. We consider that the integration of such disciplines will have a positive impact on the understanding and study of these biomedically relevant parasites.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), parasites from different species and latitudes are the cause of tremendous burdens of disease worldwide. Some of them are classified in the group of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), because they suffer from a lack of attention by the public funding agencies of developed countries. Altogether, the NTDs affect more than 1 billion people worldwide, largely in rural areas of low-income countries.
Therefore, the unraveling, understanding, and description of parasites at the molecular level has become essential to design strategies to control these devastating diseases. In the first decade of the 21st century, the development of new technologies has forever changed the way genomes, transcriptomes, proteomes, and metabolomes are processed and analyzed, successfully fulfilling this complex needing. Besides, its accessibility in terms of cost and time has promoted its implementation in an increasing number of specialized research laboratories worldwide. Accordingly, most of the recent knowledge in parasite molecular biology (including interactions with the host) has evolved in line with such technologies. In this context, ‘omic’ approaches including but not limited to genome sequencing, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and epigenetics, are contributing to answer specific biological questions, such as drug resistance, epidemiology, genetic exchange, immune evasion mechanisms, gene function, genome organization and gene expression. And equally important, their implementation on disease surveillance, disease outcomes, and interactions with the host and vectors are having a positive impact on human health.
Thus, it is the intention of this special issue to highlight recent advances in the field of parasite omics applied to study protozoan pathogens. We consider that the integration of such disciplines will have a positive impact on the understanding and study of these biomedically relevant parasites.
