HOOKWORM - DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY OF THE INFECTIOUS PROCESS

Hookworms cause severe anemia and malnutrition in developing countries of the tropics, with an estimated one billion people infected worldwi de. An in vitro system that models the early events of infection has p rovided new information about the linkage between the infectious proce ss and the parasite's developmental biology. The cloning and expressio n of Anclyostoma secreted protein, ASP 1 - a secreted molecule associa ted with these developmental processes-is an example of how this syste m allows us to dissect the infectious process at the molecular level.