School of Life Sciences Seminar Series - Emmitt Jolly

Emmitt Jolly, Case Western Reserve University

"Complex larval development in parasitic schistosomes"

Parasitic schistosomes worms infect more that 200 million people worldwide and are responsible for schistosomiasis, a chronically debilitating disease. The larvae of these parasitic worms penetrate human skin and develop into egg-producing adult worms that eat red blood cells and have harmful health consequences. The parasitic transition from the molluscan snail host to adaptation in the mammalian host is a complex development process that is not well understood. This talk will expand on some of the interesting developmental questions involved in schistosome infection and explore our current understanding of the process.