Aberdeen University scientists are part of an international team, dedicated to cracking the genetic code of a deadly disease-transmitting snail.
Parasites contracted from tropical freshwater snails infect 200 million people with schistosomiasis or snail fever every year, killing 200,000 people in developing countries across the world.
The impact on global health makes it the second most deadly parasitic disease after malaria, with children particularly susceptible, because they tend to be in closer contact with water infected by the parasite.
As part of a global team of 100 academics led by the University of New Mexico, scientists at Aberdeen have now helped to identify a number of key processes in the snail’s biology, including how the species transmits the parasite.
It is hoped their research will assist them in finding ways of potentially stopping transmission of the disease, such as the development of strategies to disrupt egg production and limiting numbers of the species.
Dr Catherine Jones, who worked with fellow Aberdeen scientists, Dr Les Noble and Dr Anne Lockyer, said: “This disease is a gigantic problem for global health – killing around 200,000 people every year and blighting the lives of millions more.
“Our team – and the wider international consortium – have for the first time analysed the entire genetic make-up of this nuisance species, and as a result now have a much better understanding of this snail’s biology, and how they transmit the disease.
“Going forward, we can suggest strategies which could be explored further with a view to, hopefully, reducing transmission of schistosomiasis, helping the World Health Organisation in its aim to eliminate this disease by 2025.”
