{"id":366357,"date":"2026-03-30T19:52:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T19:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/366357\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T19:52:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T19:52:15","slug":"parasitic-sleeping-sickness-creates-invisibility-cloak-to-hide-in-humans-for-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/366357\/","title":{"rendered":"Parasitic sleeping sickness creates \u2018invisibility cloak\u2019 to hide in humans for years"},"content":{"rendered":"

The notorious disease known as sleeping sickness<\/a> can lurk inside a host for months or even years before serious symptoms arrive. When these tiny parasites do, it\u2019s often a death sentence for its human host. After confounding epidemiologists<\/a> for decades, researchers now know exactly how sleeping sickness can remain undetected for so long. Its secret weapon is a constantly adapting \u201cinvisibility cloak\u201d crafted from special proteins. The evidence is laid out in a study published on March 30 in the journal Nature Microbiology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trypanosomiasis<\/a>, better known as sleeping sickness, starts with a tiny bloodsucking bug called the tsetse fly<\/a> that causes a huge problem. Like the mosquito, the tsetse fly is a vector for multiple dangerous diseases. However, the tsetse fly is particularly notorious for its role in spreading sleeping sickness in humans via the parasite Typanosoma brucei gambiense (T. brucei). Roughly 70 million people across 36 countries are still at risk of contracting sleeping sickness, and a total eradication remains elusive.<\/p>\n

\"closeAround 70 million people live in regions at risk of spreading sleeping sickness. Credit: Deposit Photos<\/a><\/p>\n

Cases of sleeping sickness are steadily declining, but they remain frequently fatal. Initial symptoms appear relatively innocuous, with a patient developing a fever, joint pain, headaches, and itchiness between one and three weeks after an insect bite. But the problems intensify from there. The second stage of sleeping sickness may arrive weeks, months, or even later, but its effects on the nervous system invariably include neurological complications like confusion, numbness, poor coordination, irregular sleep disruptions, and coma. What\u2019s more, it\u2019s often already too late for effective treatment once the most severe symptoms arrive. At that point, there isn\u2019t much to do for a patient.<\/p>\n

But how and why does it take so long to learn when someone has sleeping sickness? Newly discovered ESB2 proteins may be the reason why. These collectively create a barrier structure called a variant surface glycoprotein (VSG). At the same time, the parasite is also precisely editing its genes to hide inside its host.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve discovered that the parasite\u2019s secret to staying invisible isn\u2019t just what it prints, but what it chooses to redact,\u201d explained University of York biologist and study co-author Joana Faria<\/a>. \u201cBy placing a \u2018molecular shredder\u2019 directly inside its \u2018protein factory,\u2019 the parasite can edit its genetic manual in real-time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The explanation answers a question that\u2019s stumped microbiologists and epidemiologists for nearly 40 years. In addition to the protein cloak, T. brucei is producing \u201chelper genes\u201d that ensure its survival by hiding it from the immune system. Researchers noted that although the genetic instructions should result in equal quantities of each gene type, the parasite knows to make many more VSG proteins than the helpers.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where ESB2 comes into play. Faria\u2019s team successfully identified the protein inside a region of the parasite known as the Expression Site Body. As new genetic material is manufactured, ESB2 immediately takes a cellular scalpel to the helper sections while sparing the cloaking mechanisms. Basically, it\u2019s retracting telltale phrases in a manifesto that would otherwise trace back to the author.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we first saw the molecular shredder localized in the microscope, we knew we had found something special,\u201d recalled biologist and study co-author Lianne Lansink<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The implications also extend beyond sleeping sickness. According to Faria, the breakthrough \u201csuggests a fundamental shift\u201d in how infectious diseases are approached. In some cases, an organism\u2019s survival may rely less on how it creates genetic instructions, and more on which ones they eliminate in the moment.<\/p>\n

Despite its classification as a neglected tropical disease<\/a>, sleeping sickness cases have steadily declined in recent decades thanks to public health efforts. With the discovery of ESB2, researchers are one step closer to wiping out sleeping sickness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mystery of how this parasite manages the asymmetric expression of its genetic manual has been a cold case in the back of my mind since my days as a postdoc,\u201d said Faria. \u201cIt\u2019s a testament to what a fresh lab and a diverse group of scientists can achieve when they look at an old problem from a completely new angle.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The notorious disease known as sleeping sickness can lurk inside a host for months or even years before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[176540,85,176541,176538,46,176539,43900,141,176536,176537],"class_list":{"0":"post-366357","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-dangerous-diseases","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-initial-symptoms","11":"tag-invisibility-cloak","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-joana-faria","14":"tag-parasite","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-sleeping-sickness","17":"tag-tsetse-fly"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}