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Unlucky Fluke
10 August 2016

Unlucky Fluke

This is an extreme close-up of an extremely unpleasant organism. It’s the parasitic blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni – responsible for causing the tropical disease schistosomiasis – or to be precise, its testes. The DNA of the developing sperm and the stem cells that give rise to them is stained blue, while an important DNA-packaging protein is coloured orange. By studying these stem cells, researchers have discovered that a protein called NFYB is essential for keeping the stem cells growing and functioning properly. No NFYB equals no sperm. For a start, this finding could point towards ideas for developing treatments based on blocking or removing NFYB, which could be used to control Schistosoma parasites. But the benefits don’t stop there. Faulty sperm stem cells in humans can lead to infertility if they don’t grow properly, or testicular cancer if they multiply too fast, so there are other avenues to explore.

Written by Kat Arney

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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