Scientific advances come in waves, like everything in life.
AI, CRISPR, and Omics have opened the door to a new impulse in drug development for a long-standing problem in the tropics and sub-tropics: Neglected Tripanosomatid diseases.
The XII Course on Molecular Biology of Trypanosomatids and Symposium on Chagas Disease aims to equip Latin American researchers with cutting-edge skills in biotechnology and AI to tackle parasitic diseases like Chagas, leishmaniasis, and sleeping sickness. Through lectures, labs, and workshops, participants explored genomics, CRISPR, proteomics, and AI-driven drug discovery, fostering innovation and collaboration to improve diagnostics, treatments, and public health outcomes.
The course is part of a decades-long commitment by a network of scientists from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, and Uruguay to end the burden of these parasites in the developing world. And this time, they incorporated lectures about the role of biotech startups in developing a cure, bringing the private sector into the fold.
We congratulate Ulrike Kemmerling and Christian Castillo on this experience, which was held in August at Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas (ICBM), Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile.
