Researchers have shown that the Trypanosoma cruzi agent of
Chagas Disease (CD) invades host embryo cells and spreads its
mitochondrial DNA (kDNA) minicircles into the host's genome. Dr.
Antonio Teixeira and associates at the University of Brasília,
Brazil, inoculated virulent typanosomes in fertile chicken eggs
and documented the heritability and fixation of the kDNA
mutations in the chicks and their progeny. The results,
published in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical
Diseases on March 29th, show that kDNA-mutated chickens undergo
genotype alterations, developing an inflammatory heart condition
similar to Chagas disease in humans. Chagas is one of the most
lethal endemic infectious diseases in the Western Hemisphere,
and although initially restricted to South America, it is now
present in many parts of the world. This insect-born infection
can also be transmitted from mother to child and via blood
transfusion, and while acute infections are usually acquired in
infancy or childhood, chronic Chaga