Molecular Cellular Parasitology: The Decades and Challenges Ahead

Abstract

Our civilization faces unprecedented challenges, many the result of past inaction (Broecker, 1975). The COVID-19 pandemic drives on in much of the world, there is new war in Europe, continuing conflicts and military persecution of civilians elsewhere and climate change may be close to an irreversible threat to food supply and security, as well as leading to a collapse in biodiversity (Outhwaite and McCann P, 2022). Political extremism and corruption have risen on both the left and the right of the spectrum, carbon-based fuel prices have risen and remain volatile and there is a continual and increasing refugee crisis.We are already witnessing the impacts from these economic, environmental and social challenges toward health, economic prosperity and well-being, with the correlated peril that poverty and disease are intertwined. Altered impacts from diseases caused by eukaryotic pathogens, parasites, are no exception (Figure 1). Some of these events have direct effects on host and vector ranges. Migrations due to armed conflict, economic and societal concerns and climate change are potentially bringing parasitic infections into naive populations or increasing their prevalence significantly. Other movements, not necessarily classed as migration, can bring parasites directly into an otherwise unaffected population, as has been suggested for Trypanosoma cruzi into Europe (Antinori et al., 2017). These events represent challenges to healthcare and the expertise of practitioners now facing new diagnostic challenges. The news is, however, not all grim. A combination of new or improved technology, innovation and co-operation between NGOs, governments, fundraisers and granting agencies promises much, as evidenced by the London declaration of 2012 (Hotez et al., 2017). Rapid sequencing, diagnostics and cheap computing has put enormously powerful tools into our hands going forward, both for development of therapeutics against parasites and for increasing knowledge of their fundamental biology. I submit that basic biological knowledge is always of huge importance, but when coupled with an understanding of translational potential, can have a direct impact on disease. This is where molecular cellular parasitology has questions, answers and opinions to offer, and I will propose several Grand Challenges which will be complemented by a research topic article collection charging people within the field to discuss those advances and questions that, for them, are themost pressing (Box 1).