Tuesday, March 03, 2009

The early years of Toxoplasma research: What's past is prologue

Int J Parasitol. 2009 Feb 26. [Epub ahead of print]

The early years of Toxoplasma research: What's past is prologue

Morrissette NS, Ajioka JW.

Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine CA, 92697 USA.

In the century since the first description of Toxoplasma gondii, history and circumstance have led scientists to define this organism in diverse contexts. From its discovery by researchers shaped by early 20th century versions of the germ theory to its more recent roles as an important globally distributed pathogen and a model apicomplexan, our definitions of Toxoplasma are as much a reflection of our frame of reference as they are an absolute definition of this organism. Although these transformations act as portals for new avenues of investigation, the essential questions that inform current research are founded in the work of early investigators who studied Toxoplasma.

PMID: 19250939 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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