The molecular revolution in the development of vaccines against ectoparasites

Over the last decade, the application of a spectrum of molecular techniques has begun to revolutionise our understanding of protective immune response s to ectoparasites and the targets for those responses. The catalogue of po tential and actual protective antigens characterised in detail is slowly ex panding. The validity of regarding such antigens as generic and capable of cross-species protection is being explored. The immune interactions between host and parasite are being studied at a molecular rather than cellular le vel, All this should contribute to the eventual development of a range of r ecombinant vaccines, though important scientific limitations remain. These range from the innate susceptibility of individual parasite species to immu nological attack, which can only be assessed on a case by case basis, to ou r ability to produce the desired recombinant antigens and to elicit and mai ntain the necessary immunological responses. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.