PAGE 1 OF 2 Fighting the Parasites by Laura Spinney Malaria
parasites exist "cloaked" within red blood cells, where they
divide into smaller cells called merozoites that are released
into the bloodstream when the cell eventually bursts.
BIOGRAPHERS AND HISTORIANS generally believe that Charles Darwin
caught Chagas disease during his voyage on The Beaglein the
early 1830s, and that the disease may have been the root cause
of the chronic illnesses that affected Darwins health until his
death in 1882. Today, 123 years later, there is still no
effective treatment for the chronic form of Chagas disease,
which continues to kill tens of thousands of people annually.
But after several decades of research, two scientists think they
have found a possible cure. The disease—caused by the parasite
Trypanosoma cruzi, which is spread by biting insects known as
“kissing bugs”—currently infects between 16 and 18 million
people in Central and South America, with 120 million people at
risk. Chagas disease occurs in an acute for