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2021
This visual by Samantha Griffiths captures a critical moment: the moment when a parasite becomes undetectable.
Trypanosomes, here at the heart of blood cells, are responsible for serious parasitic diseases such as sleeping sickness in Africa and Chagas disease in South America.
Transmitted by insects, these parasites first colonize blood, then nerve tissue. Their weapon: a formidable molecular camouflage mechanism. By regularly modifying their surface composition, they evade their host's immune defenses.
To observe these organisms in their natural environment is to see the moment when the invasion blends into the cellular landscape.
Studying their cycles, forms and movements enables us to understand their spread, decipher their strategies, and perhaps, one day, counter them.
Here, every detail counts, right down to the shape of the flagella, because in this microscopic war, knowledge is the most precious weapon.
