Various instrumentation
Image provided by Jim Collins and Phil Newmark, Phil Newmark Lab
Research funded by the National Institutes of Health
and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Humans have been hosting parasitic flatworms called schistosomes for more than 5,000 years. Today these parasites continue to cause disease. This image shows several stages of the schistosome life cycle, superimposed: the egg production organs of a female (blue and purple), a larva (green and brown), and the bodies (green) and heads (blue) of adults. Understanding the life cycle could help researchers find better ways to prevent the disease the parasites cause.
