Insights into the functional biology of schistosomes

The need to discover new treatments for human schistosomiasis has been an important driver for molecular research on schistosomes,a major breakthrough being the publication of the schistosoma mansoni and schistosoma japonicum genomes in 2009. this 'primer' considers recent advances in the understanding of schistosome biology by providing a snapshot of selected areas of contemporary functional schistosome research,including that on the genome,the tegument,cell signalling and developmental biology,offering biologists a valuable insight into the life of these fascinating parasites at the basic and molecular level. © 2011 walker; licensee biomed central ltd.