The "off switch" is a protein within the parasite that they turned off with genetic modifications. They didn't actually find a treatment that could be used on wild parasites.
> Gaji and his team might have found a lead, though: in a new study, they have shown that switching off just a single protein inside the microscopic parasite can kill it.
> The protein, TgAP2X-7, appears to be essential to the parasite's ability to invade a host, form plaques, and self-replicate. To prove this, the team genetically modified some parasites so that their TgAP2X-7 proteins function normally unless auxin (a plant hormone that regulates growth) is added, in which case the proteins would quickly degrade.
So it could be helpful research for something, but there are a lot of proteins within parasites that are necessary for growth and survival. Turning any number of proteins off could end the parasite's ability to do something, but that's not helpful unless you also have a mechanism to induce that change without harming the host.
chasil•1h ago
Toxoplasma Gondii is noted for causing behavioral differences in infected hosts.
Aurornis•1h ago
> Gaji and his team might have found a lead, though: in a new study, they have shown that switching off just a single protein inside the microscopic parasite can kill it.
> The protein, TgAP2X-7, appears to be essential to the parasite's ability to invade a host, form plaques, and self-replicate. To prove this, the team genetically modified some parasites so that their TgAP2X-7 proteins function normally unless auxin (a plant hormone that regulates growth) is added, in which case the proteins would quickly degrade.
So it could be helpful research for something, but there are a lot of proteins within parasites that are necessary for growth and survival. Turning any number of proteins off could end the parasite's ability to do something, but that's not helpful unless you also have a mechanism to induce that change without harming the host.