Programming schistosomes - a crisper approach to transgenesis

Bernd H Kalinna

doi:10.1016/j.pt.2023.09.003

Programming schistosomes - a crisper approach to transgenesis

Trends Parasitol. 2023 Nov;39(11):896-897. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2023.09.003. Epub 2023 Sep 15.

Author

Bernd H Kalinna¹

Affiliation

¹ Schistosomiasis Laboratory, Rural Health Research Institute, Charles Sturt University, Orange, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: hkalinna@csu.edu.au.

PMID: 37718190
DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2023.09.003

Abstract

Ittiprasert and colleagues identified genomic safe harbour (GSH) sites in Schistosoma mansoni using computational methods and inserted a transgene into one of the sites through clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9-assisted homology-directed repair. This study outlines a promising strategy for functional genomics to study this parasite that causes a debilitating and neglected tropical disease.

Keywords: CRISPR/Cas9; Schistosoma mansoni; genome safe harbour site; homology-directed repair; parasitic helminth transgenesis.