In 1843, the Hungarian scientist David Gruby—considered the founder of medical microbiology—was studying a microscopic parasite in frog blood. The parasite seemed to propel itself forward like a corkscrew, so he named the creature Trypanosoma sanguinis, after the Greek word “trypanon,” or augur. The name stuck, and the term Trypanosome is now used to describe a genus of unicellular parasites that move in a similar way.
But new research is challenging Gruby’s description of the parasite’s movement. José A. Rodriguez, an HHMI-funded doctoral student at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a multidisciplinary team of colleagues have found that the parasite Trypanasoma brucei, which causes African sleeping sickness, doesn’t move in just one direction like a corkscrew. Instead, it rocks left then right and back again, without changing the direction it is trying to go.
But new research is challenging Gruby’s description of the parasite’s movement. José A. Rodriguez, an HHMI-funded doctoral student at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a multidisciplinary team of colleagues have found that the parasite Trypanasoma brucei, which causes African sleeping sickness, doesn’t move in just one direction like a corkscrew. Instead, it rocks left then right and back again, without changing the direction it is trying to go.
