Researchers at Goethe University may have found a new approach to fighting Chagas disease.
It is caused by the unicellular parasite Trypanosoma cruzi and can be life-threatening in the chronic stage.
The pathogen is transmitted in Central and South America by assassin bugs.
If they sting a person to suck blood, the trypanosomes can get into the wound through bug excrement.
Insecticides are currently used to control the bugs, but resistance to them is increasing.
That is why the Frankfurt researchers, together with Brazilian colleagues, have been looking for a new strategy.
To do this, they analyzed the bacterial flora in the gut of assassin bugs and showed how the trypanosomes influence it.
It would be conceivable to infect the bugs with genetically modified bacteria that render the parasites harmless.
Before that, however, further basic research is required.
Here is the study.