Sebastian Lourido

Our lab studies a group of parasites that are among the most complex organisms to infect humans. One sign of this complexity is their large genome, which gives them the ability to adopt many forms and adapt to different conditions during infection. 

Over the past year, our lab has focused on understanding how these parasites change their form at a molecular level — how they convert the information in their DNA into RNA messages, and then how those messages are translated into proteins that give the parasites their changing form and function.

We’ve conducted a systematic study of the systems that determine when different RNA messages are made, which impacts how these parasites change over time, and discovered two systems that, at different points in the life cycle of a parasite, bookmark which genes need to be read. Once these RNA messages are made, they are not all turned into proteins at the same time — some are prioritized while others are saved for later.

By uncovering how parasites decide which proteins to make and when, we’re learning how they adapt to enter human cells, evade the immune system, grow, and spread to new hosts. Understanding these processes is a crucial step toward developing strategies that help combat parasitic infections.