Parasitology is the study of parasites, their
hostIn biology, a host is an organism that harbors a parasite , or a mutual or commensal symbiont, typically providing nourishment and shelter. In botany, a host plant is one that supplies food resources and substrate for certain insects or other fauna...
s, and the relationship between them. As a
biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question, but by their way of life. This means it forms a synthesis of other disciplines, and draws on techniques from fields such as
cell biologyCell biology is an academic discipline that studies cells – their physiological properties, their structure, the organelles they contain, interactions with their environment, their life cycle, division and death. This is done both on a microscopic and molecular level...
,
bioinformaticsBioinformatics is the application of information technology to the field of molecular biology. The term bioinformatics was coined by Paulien Hogeweg in 1979 for the study of informatic processes in biotic systems...
,
biochemistryBiochemistry is the study of the chemical processes in living organisms. It deals with the structure and function of cellular components such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and other biomolecules....
,
molecular biologyMolecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level. The field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
,
immunologyImmunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. It deals with, among other things, the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and disease; malfunctions of the immune system in...
,
geneticsGenetics, , a discipline of biology, is the science of heredity and variation in living organisms. The fact that living things inherit traits from their parents has been used since prehistoric times to improve crop plants and animals through selective breeding...
,
evolutionIn biology, evolution is change in the genetic material of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. Though changes produced in any one generation are normally small, differences accumulate with each generation and can, over time, cause substantial changes in the population, a...
and
ecologyEcology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the interactions between organisms and the interactions of these organisms with their environment....
.
The study of these diverse
organismIn biology, an organism is any living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homeostasis as a stable whole...
s means that the subject is often broken up into simpler, more focused units, which use common techniques, even if they are not studying the same organisms or diseases.
Parasitology is the study of parasites, their
hostIn biology, a host is an organism that harbors a parasite , or a mutual or commensal symbiont, typically providing nourishment and shelter. In botany, a host plant is one that supplies food resources and substrate for certain insects or other fauna...
s, and the relationship between them. As a
biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question, but by their way of life. This means it forms a synthesis of other disciplines, and draws on techniques from fields such as
cell biologyCell biology is an academic discipline that studies cells – their physiological properties, their structure, the organelles they contain, interactions with their environment, their life cycle, division and death. This is done both on a microscopic and molecular level...
,
bioinformaticsBioinformatics is the application of information technology to the field of molecular biology. The term bioinformatics was coined by Paulien Hogeweg in 1979 for the study of informatic processes in biotic systems...
,
biochemistryBiochemistry is the study of the chemical processes in living organisms. It deals with the structure and function of cellular components such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and other biomolecules....
,
molecular biologyMolecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level. The field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
,
immunologyImmunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. It deals with, among other things, the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and disease; malfunctions of the immune system in...
,
geneticsGenetics, , a discipline of biology, is the science of heredity and variation in living organisms. The fact that living things inherit traits from their parents has been used since prehistoric times to improve crop plants and animals through selective breeding...
,
evolutionIn biology, evolution is change in the genetic material of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. Though changes produced in any one generation are normally small, differences accumulate with each generation and can, over time, cause substantial changes in the population, a...
and
ecologyEcology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the interactions between organisms and the interactions of these organisms with their environment....
.
Fields
The study of these diverse
organismIn biology, an organism is any living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homeostasis as a stable whole...
s means that the subject is often broken up into simpler, more focused units, which use common techniques, even if they are not studying the same organisms or diseases. Much research in parasitology falls somewhere between two or more of these definitions. In general, the study of
prokaryoteThe prokaryotes are a group of organisms that lack a cell nucleus , or any other membrane-bound organelles. They differ from the eukaryotes, which have a cell nucleus. Most are unicellular, but a few prokaryotes such as myxobacteria have multicellular stages in their life cycles...
s fall under the field of bacteriology rather than parasitology.
Medical parasitology
One of the largest fields in parasitology, medical parasitology is the study of those parasites which infect humans. These include organisms such as:
- Plasmodium
Plasmodium is a genus of parasitic protists. Infection by these organisms is known as malaria. The genus Plasmodium was discovered in 1885 by Marchiafava and Celli. Currently over 200 species of this genus are recognized and new species continue to be described.Of the over 200 known species of...
spp., the protozoan parasite which causes malariaMalaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by a eukaryotic protist of the genus Plasmodium. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Each year, there are approximately 350–500 million cases of malaria, killing between one and...
. The four species of malaria parasites infective to humans are Plasmodium falciparum,Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium vivax & Plasmodium ovale.
- Leishmania donovani, the unicellular organism which causes leishmaniasis
Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by protozoan parasites that belong to the genus Leishmania and is transmitted by the bite of certain species of sand fly...
- multicellular organisms such as Schistosoma
A genus of trematodes, Schistosoma spp., commonly known as blood-flukes and bilharzia, cause the most significant infection of humans by flatworms and are considered by the World Health Organization as second in importance only to malaria, with hundreds of millions infected worldwide. Adult worms...
spp., Wuchereria bancroftiWuchereria bancrofti or Filaria, is a parasitic filarial nematode worm spread by a mosquito vector. It is one of the three parasites that cause lymphatic filariasis. Named for Otto Wucherer and Joseph Bancroft, it affects over 120 million people, primarily in Africa, South America, and other...
and Necator americanusThe hookworm is a parasitic nematode worm that lives in the small intestine of its host, which may be a mammal such as a dog, cat, or human. Two species of hookworms commonly infect humans, Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus. Necator americanus predominates in the Americas, Sub-Saharan...
Medical parasitology can involve
drugA pharmaceutical drug, also referred to as medicine, medication or medicament, can be loosely defined as any chemical substance intended for use in the medical diagnosis, cure, treatment, or prevention of disease.- Classification :...
development,
epidemiologicalEpidemiology is the study of factors affecting the health and illness of populations, and serves as the foundation and logic of interventions made in the interest of public health and preventive medicine...
studies and study of
zoonosesA zoonosis or zoonose is any infectious disease that can be transmitted from non-human animals, both wild and domestic, to humans or from humans to non-human animals...
.
Veterinary parasitology
The study of parasites that cause economic losses in
agricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
or
aquacultureAquaculture is the farming of freshwater and saltwater organisms such as finfish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants. Also known as aquafarming, aquaculture involves cultivating aquatic populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the...
operations, or which infect companion animals. Examples of species studied are:
- Lucilia sericata, a blowfly, which lays eggs on the skins of farm animals. The maggot
Maggot is the common name of the larval phase of development in insects of the order Diptera . Sometimes the word is used to denote the larval stage of any insects.-Fishing:...
s hatch and burrow into the flesh, distressing the animal and causing economic loss to the farmer
- Otodectes cynotis, the cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felines and felids, is a small carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
ear miteEar mites are mites that live in the ears of animals. The most commonly seen species is Otodectes cynotis.-Contagion:Ear mites spread rapidly, and can be transmitted from even brief physical contact with other animals. In pets, ear mites most commonly affect cats,guinea pigs, ferrets, and to a...
, responsible for Canker.
- Gyrodactylus salaris, a monogenea
Monogenea are a group of largely ectoparasitic members of the flatworm phylum Platyhelminthes, class Monogenea.-Characteristics:Monogenea are small parasitic flatworms mainly found on skin or gills of fish....
n parasite of salmonSalmon is the common name for several species of fish of the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the family are called trout; the difference is often attributed to the migratory life of the salmon as compared to the residential behaviour of trout, a distinction that holds true for the Salmo...
, which can wipe out populations which are not resistant.
Quantitative parasitology
Parasites exhibit an aggregated distribution among host individuals, thus the majority of parasites live in the minority of hosts. This feature forces parasitologists to use advanced biostatistical methodologies.
Structural parasitology
This is the study of structures of proteins from parasites. Determination of parasitic protein structures may help to better understand how these proteins function differently from homologous proteins in humans. In addition, protein structures may inform the process of
drug discoveryIn the fields of medicine, biotechnology and pharmacology, drug discovery is the process by which drugs are discovered and/or designed.In the past most drugs have been discovered either by identifying the active ingredient from traditional remedies or by serendipitous discovery...
.
Parasite ecology
Parasites can provide information about host population ecology. In
fisheries biologyGenerally, a fishery is an entity engaged in raising and/or harvesting fish, which is determined by some authority to be a fishery. According to the FAO, a fishery is typically defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of...
, for example, parasite communities can be used to distinguish distinct populations of the same fish species co-inhabiting a region. Additionally, parasites possess a variety of specialized traits and life-history strategies that enable them to colonize hosts. Understanding these aspects of parasite ecology, of interest in their own right, can illuminate parasite-avoidance strategies employed by hosts
Taxonomy and phylogenetics
The huge diversity between parasitic organisms creates a challenge for biologists who wish to describe and catalogue them. Recent developments in using
DNADeoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses. The main role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of information...
to identify separate species and to investigate the relationship between groups at various
taxonomicTaxonomy is the practice and science of classification. The word finds its roots in the Greek , taxis and , nomos...
scales has been enormously useful to parasitologists, as many parasites are highly
degenerateDegeneracy , from the Latin de-generare "to depart from its kind or genus, to fall from its proper or ancestral quality" can refer to:*In science and mathematics:...
, disguising relationships between species.
See also
- Important publications in parasitology
- Parasitologists
- http://parasites-world.com/category/parasitologists/world-parasitologists/ World Parasitologists
- http://parasites-world.com/category/parasitology-societiesassociations-and-federation/ Parasitology Societies,Associations and Federation
- http://parasites-world.com/category/glossary/ Parasitology Glossary
- http://parasites-world.com/category/parasitology-links/ Parasitology Links
External links