Patent granted for toxoplasmosis research

  • April 29, 2014
Patent granted for toxoplasmosis research

Bo Shiun Lai and his research colleagues have been granted a patent by the US authorities to develop a treatement for toxoplasmosis.

A Gates Cambridge Scholar and his team have been granted a patent by the US authorities to develop a treatement for toxoplasmosis.

Bo Shiun Lai [2013] and colleagues submitted a patent application around a year and a half ago when Bo Shiun was still doing his undergraduate degree at the Univesity of Chicago and have just been awarded a US patent. He is continuing his research at the University of Cambridge, where he is doing a PhD in Pathology.

Toxoplasmosis is a parasite which is hosted by two billion people worldwide, mostly without any visible symptoms. However, if their immune system is suppressed, for instance, if they are newborn or have HIV, it can cause serious problems. In newborns it can cause ocular impairment or brain defects and brain inflammation caused by toxoplasmosis is a major cause of death in people with HIV. It is relatively rare among newborns and has been considered a neglected disease, but since 9/11, it has been classified as a bioterror agent by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) which led to increased interest until the financial meltdown.

Toxoplasmosis takes two forms: active and dormant. When it is dormant the parasite wraps itself in a thick layer of lipid which makes it impervious to all drug treatment and impossible to eradicate. Bo Shiun’s research into toxoplasmosis focuses on two main challenges: how to deliver drugs across the lipid barrier and what specific molecular pathways to inhibit. As toxoplasmosis mainly resides in the eyes and brain, treatment has to cross the ocular membrane or enter the brain.

His work prior to arriving at Cambridge in 2013 was focused on the first challenge, attempting to create a molecule that could have an inhibitory effect on the parasite and deliver medication across multiple membranes. At Cambridge, he has been targeting the second challenge – how to switch the parasite from dormant to active mode, making it susceptible to existing treatment, or shut off essential pathways, killing the parasite effectively.

He says: “This approach is a breakthrough because it allows us to deliver drugs across numerous layers of obstacles, arrive at the intended target (ideally essential for parasite survival or replication), and abrogate parasite growth. The patent is promising for delivering inhibitory molecules into both active and dormant parasites.”

The researchers found that their original model had a small therapeutic range in which it could be both effective and non toxic. They believe the toxicity originates from the transductive peptides which help deliver the drugs across the lipid barrier to the parasite and have been trying to reduce it. So far they have expanded the therapeutic range by about four times. Bo Shiun says: “This means we can increase the dosage dramatically without observable toxicity.”

Bo Shiun’s work has seen him nominated for the Cozzarelli Prize, a national award for scientific excellence in a particular scientific discipline and three of his articles were accepted for publication in peer review journals before he finished his undergraduate degree.

Latest News

How might extreme heat contribute to human migration?

Rising temperatures due to climate change are likely influencing human migration patterns, according to a new study co-authored by Gates Cambridge Scholar Dr Kim van Daalen [2018]. The study, led by Rita Issa of University College London, is published today in the open-access journal PLOS Climate. It looks at the role of heat in human […]

Scholar scoops prestigious science innovation fellowship

Freja Ekman has been named one of the 2023 class of Hertz Fellows as the prestigious fellowship celebrates its 60th year. The 15 fellowships in applied science, engineering and mathematics are awarded by Fannie and John Hertz Foundation, a non-profit organisation for innovators in science and technology. Winners will have their graduate studies funded for […]

Scholar hosts first UN communications technology access meeting in India

Gates Cambridge Scholar Pradipta Biswas has hosted a UN meeting on improving access to communications technology – the first ever held in India. The meeting of ITU-T Study Group 9 (SG-9) on “Broadband Cable and Television/Audiovisual content transmission and integrated broadband cable networks”  was held in May at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru […]

The role of storytelling in addressing colonial trauma

When she was growing up, Briseyda Barrientos Ariza [2023] spent her childhood summers in rural Guatemala, visiting her grandparents. In the evenings she would listen to her grandfather, a man who couldn’t read or write, tell intricate stories about his and others’ encounters with female folkloric figures. Two stood out in particular: La Llorona and […]