{
  "id": 11750209,
  "title": "Mapping parasite mitochondria reveals ancient pathways and dozens of potential new drug targets",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/03/mapping-parasite-mitochondria-reveals-ancient-pathways-and-dozens-of",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-03T19:00:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Medical Xpress",
    "slug": "medical-xpress",
    "url": "https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-parasite-mitochondria-reveals-ancient-pathways.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A four-year effort to map the mitochondrial proteomes of five deadly parasites and one plant revealed ancient pathways and potential new drug targets. Led by HHMI investigator Vamsi Mootha, a consortium of 25 scientists from various institutions mapped the mitochondrial proteomes across Giardia, Acanthamoeba, trypanosomes, Leishmania, and Babesia. The results, published in nine papers, could lead to drugs that target multiple pathogens simultaneously. The team discovered that some parasites share ancient mitochondrial machinery with human mitochondria, while others have unique properties, such as running without oxygen or losing their mitochondrial DNA entirely. This challenges the conventional understanding of mitochondria and could open up new avenues for drug development.",
  "summary": "Cut the power, and the machine stops. That was part of the motivation behind a four-year effort to map all the proteins in the mitochondria—often called the powerhouse of the cell—of the parasites that cause sleeping sickness, giardiasis, leishmaniasis and babesiosis, diseases that together affect nearly a billion people every year.",
  "key_points": [
    "Four-year effort maps mitochondrial proteomes of five deadly parasites and one plant.",
    "Researchers discover ancient mitochondrial pathways shared with human mitochondria.",
    "Potential new drug targets identified for simultaneous pathogen treatment."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}