Chair for Experimental Parasitology

Protozoan parasites represent fascinating organisms with their own evolutionary history, giving rise to unique adaptation and novel biological pathways that can be very distinct to other eukaryotes. In fact, one has to consider that much of our knowledge on fundamental biological processes has been derived from a single eukaryotic clade, the ophistokonts (from yeast to human) and current research demonstrates that biochemical pathways, organelles and even basic processes, such as gene regulation mechanisms can be very distinct between different phyli.

At the Chair for Experimental Parasitology we believe that understanding similarities and differences between protozoan parasites and other eukaryotes (i.e. their hosts) will not only lead to important insights in fundamental biology and provide a snapshot of the evolution of certain processes, it will also lead directly to a better understanding of the unique biology of protozoan parasites and therefore to future translational approaches that can lead to novel intervention strategies against these important pathogens.