- Email: [email protected]
A special issue on ‘Molecular and Cellular Biology of Helminth Parasites VI’, Hydra, Greece 2010
Experimental Parasitology 132 (2012) 1
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Experimental Parasitology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/yexpr
Editorial
A special issue on ‘Molecular and Cellular Biology of Helminth Parasites VI’, Hydra, Greece 2010 Parasitic worms are responsible for the infection of enormous numbers of people and it is estimated that nearly one billion people are infected with hookworms, 1.4 billion with Ascaris, 750 million with whipworm, and 250 million with schistosomes (Hotez et al., 2006). Although these infections more frequently lead to chronic morbidity and debilitation rather than mortality, their public health impact is enormous (see Ref. Hotez et al., 2006). Worldwide, worm infections account for morbidity equivalent to more than 100 million disability-adjusted life years – rivalling that of malaria or HIV/AIDS (Hotez et al., 2008). This special issue of Experimental Parasitology intends to give an overview of recent progress in the field of molecular and cellular biology of helminth parasites, which was prompted by the international meeting ‘Molecular and Cellular Biology of Helminth Parasites VI’, held on Hydra, Greece in September 2010. This remarkable conference was organised by Kleoniki Gounaris, Rick Maizels, Edward Pearce and Murray Selkirk, who put together a program that covered state of the art helminth research from cell biology, and immunology to genetic manipulation of these parasites. Inspired by the great scientific coverage, productivity of the meeting and the excellent presentations in the different sessions
0014-4894/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Published by Elsevier Inc. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.exppara.2012.07.002
the production of a Special Issue in Experimental Parasitology summarising this conference was suggested by the editors and is now presented in this issue. It includes review articles, research articles and articles of a mixed nature covering all areas represented at the conference. References Hotez, P.J., Brindley, P.J., Bethony, J.M., King, C.H., Pearce, E.J., Jacobson, J., 2008. Helminth infections: the great neglected tropical diseases. J. Clin. Invest. 118, 1311–1321. Hotez, P.J., Molyneux, D.H., Fenwick, A., Ottesen, E., Ehrlich Sachs, S., Sachs, J.D., 2006. Incorporating a rapid-impact package for neglected tropical diseases with programs for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. PLoS Med. 3, e102.
Bernd H. Kalinna Centre for Animal Biotechnology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic. 3010, Australia E-mail address: [email protected] Available online 10 July 2012
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Experimental Parasitology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/yexpr
Editorial
A special issue on ‘Molecular and Cellular Biology of Helminth Parasites VI’, Hydra, Greece 2010 Parasitic worms are responsible for the infection of enormous numbers of people and it is estimated that nearly one billion people are infected with hookworms, 1.4 billion with Ascaris, 750 million with whipworm, and 250 million with schistosomes (Hotez et al., 2006). Although these infections more frequently lead to chronic morbidity and debilitation rather than mortality, their public health impact is enormous (see Ref. Hotez et al., 2006). Worldwide, worm infections account for morbidity equivalent to more than 100 million disability-adjusted life years – rivalling that of malaria or HIV/AIDS (Hotez et al., 2008). This special issue of Experimental Parasitology intends to give an overview of recent progress in the field of molecular and cellular biology of helminth parasites, which was prompted by the international meeting ‘Molecular and Cellular Biology of Helminth Parasites VI’, held on Hydra, Greece in September 2010. This remarkable conference was organised by Kleoniki Gounaris, Rick Maizels, Edward Pearce and Murray Selkirk, who put together a program that covered state of the art helminth research from cell biology, and immunology to genetic manipulation of these parasites. Inspired by the great scientific coverage, productivity of the meeting and the excellent presentations in the different sessions
0014-4894/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Published by Elsevier Inc. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.exppara.2012.07.002
the production of a Special Issue in Experimental Parasitology summarising this conference was suggested by the editors and is now presented in this issue. It includes review articles, research articles and articles of a mixed nature covering all areas represented at the conference. References Hotez, P.J., Brindley, P.J., Bethony, J.M., King, C.H., Pearce, E.J., Jacobson, J., 2008. Helminth infections: the great neglected tropical diseases. J. Clin. Invest. 118, 1311–1321. Hotez, P.J., Molyneux, D.H., Fenwick, A., Ottesen, E., Ehrlich Sachs, S., Sachs, J.D., 2006. Incorporating a rapid-impact package for neglected tropical diseases with programs for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. PLoS Med. 3, e102.
Bernd H. Kalinna Centre for Animal Biotechnology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic. 3010, Australia E-mail address: [email protected] Available online 10 July 2012