Audio feature: Sebastian Lourido discusses his lab's work on Toxoplasma gondii

Whitehead Institute Member Rudolf Jaenisch and colleagues took an interdisciplinary approach to develop a new stem cell-derived model of vascular cells, with which they identified how SARS-CoV-2 can cause vascular complications such as blood clots and strokes.

Whitehead Institute Member Sebastian Lourido and colleagues performed the first genome-wide screen of Toxoplasma gondii in live hosts, uncovering genes that are important for infection but had been undetected in cell culture experiments. Their results demonstrate the importance of studying parasites in live hosts and point to a possible new drug target.

Apicomplexan parasites are responsible for several prevalent infectious diseases including malaria. Whitehead Institute Member Sebastian Lourido and colleagues identified a protein complex that the parasites require for a critical step in invading host cells.