PROMOTING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BETWEEN INDIA AND THE U.S.
Biochemistry, Biology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
We are interested in host-parasite interactions and the genetics of susceptibility to infectious disease. We study host-parasite interactions between the obligate intracellular eukaryotic parasite Toxoplasma gondii and its hosts. Toxoplasma virulence differs, often quite dramatically, depending on the infecting strain and the host. The focus of the Saeij laboratory over the last years has been to identify genes of Toxoplasma that modulate the host cell and/or determine virulence, host genes and pathways that determine resistance/susceptibility, and to characterize their specific interactions. To achieve this we use a combination of genetics, genomics, biochemistry, microscopy, immunology and computational tools