Science - USA (2020-09-25)

sciencemag.org SCIENCE

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By Timothy J. C. Anderson^1 and

Manoj T. Duraisingh^2

S

chistosomes, a type of parasitic flat-

worm, are complex multicellular

pathogens with an oversized and prob-

ably underestimated impact on human

health. Schistosomiasis is one of the

“neglected” tropical diseases, named

in part because of a perceived lack of tools

to probe parasite biology. On pages 1649 and

1644 of this issue, Wang et al. ( 1 ) and Wendt

et al. ( 2 ), respectively, show that this neglect

is unwarranted. With creative use of postge-

nomic and parasitological approaches, these

authors uncover previously unknown aspects

of schistosome biology, highlight avenues for

intervention, and provide new resources for

the field. Wang et al. report a loss-of-function

screen that reveals numerous essential genes

and identify small-molecule inhibitors of two

kinases required for muscle development.

Wendt et al. unveil a single-cell atlas for adult

schistosomes, unearthing a gut stem cell lin-

eage that can be targeted to eliminate egg

production and pathology.

Parasitic worms infect more than 1 billion

people globally, particularly in resource-

poor countries ( 3 ). They include parasites

from two major phyla: the nematodes and

platyhelminths (or flatworms—flukes and

tapeworms). Parasitic worm infections

cause anemia and stunting and impede

cognitive development in children, affect

the development of immunity and allergies,

increase susceptibility to HIV and progres-

sion to AIDS, and result in many obstruc-

tive pathologies. Schistosome blood flukes

infect more than 200 million people and

cause widespread morbidity and more than

200,000 deaths globally every year ( 4 ).

Schistosomes have complex life cycles and

fascinating biology; they use both vertebrate

and aquatic snail hosts and assume six mor-

phologically distinct developmental, repli-

cative, and sexual morphologies ( 5 ). In the

PERSPECTIVES

INSIGHTS

(^1) Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78227,
USA.^2 Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
02139, USA. Email: [email protected];
[email protected]
MICROBIOLOGY
Transformative
tools for parasitic
flatworms
Schistosome single-cell atlas
and genome-wide functional
dissection reveal druggable targets
1562 25 SEPTEMBER 2020 • VOL 369 ISSUE 6511